As annotator Peter Wollny points out here, German vocal music of the later 17th century is still a rare find on concert programs, although the marquee attraction of this release by Ensemble Correspondances and director Sébastien Daucé, the set of linked cantatas called Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, of Dietrich Buxtehude, has been recorded several times. Membra Jesu Nostri means "body parts of our Jesus," and it's a fascinating work, inward and contemplative, that depicts the rising gaze of the worshipper facing the ...
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As annotator Peter Wollny points out here, German vocal music of the later 17th century is still a rare find on concert programs, although the marquee attraction of this release by Ensemble Correspondances and director Sébastien Daucé, the set of linked cantatas called Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, of Dietrich Buxtehude, has been recorded several times. Membra Jesu Nostri means "body parts of our Jesus," and it's a fascinating work, inward and contemplative, that depicts the rising gaze of the worshipper facing the crucified Christ. Each of the seven cantata texts is framed by a relevant biblical passage, set for the chorus and full ensemble, while the new devotional poem is in the middle, sung by a soloist and accompanied by organ continuo, and in a slightly faster tempo. Daucé here uses an ideally sized chorus of ten; this is undoubtedly chamber music in the original sense of the term, but to merely break the soloists out of a solo group loses important structural contrasts. The second part of the...
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