Dietrich Buxtehude

Danish composer Dietrich Buxtehude was born in 1637, studied music with his father and held the influential post as the organist at the Marienkirche at Lubeck. Most of his surviving works are for masses and feasts, written for the organ, but Buxtehude also composed for the widely renowned concert series for which he wrote sacred oratorios and concertos and received interest from J.S. Bach. Aside from sacred texts, Buxtehude's instrumental work consists of freely composed music with virtuoso passage-work, and a small number of sonata collections. Especially for his sacred vocal works and his organ music, Buxtehude defined the 17th-century north German school which had a significant influence on Bach.