Today we are focused on the middle baroque period. This week features chamber music from Heinrich Schütz, Dieterich Buxtehude & Johann Pachelbel the last of which will be featured more extensively.

The Man

Johann Pachelbel (1653 – 1706) was born in Nuremberg, Bavaria into a middle-class family. He received his early musical training from Heinrich Schwemmer, a prolific tutor at the time. Pachelbel was attributed with exceptional music and academic ability and went to the University of Altdorf whilst working as an organist for St. Lorenz’ Church. Financial difficulties resulted in him having to leave Altdorf to be a scholarship student back in Bavaria at Regensburg he received this scholarship due to his impressive academic qualifications.

By 1673 Pachelbel was living in Vienna as deputy organist at Saint Stephen’s Cathedral, though it was not yet the seat of the Archbishop it was still a very prestigious position. Vienna was the cultural centre of the powerful Austro-Hungarian Empire and was home to many famous composers. Pachelbel spent 5 years here absorbing all he could from musical talent in Vienna.

In 1677 Pachelbel moved to Eisenach (Central Germany) as the court organist in the employ of Johann Georg I, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach. Here he also met the Bach family and became a life-long friend of Johann Ambrosius Bach (Johann Sebastian’s father), here Pachelbel also tutored the older Bach children. His time in Eisenach did not last long however as upon the death of the Duke many music positions were culled, including Pachelbel’s.

Pachelbel moved to Erfurt in 1678 as organist of Predigerkirche, thanks in part to his friendship with the Bach family who were well known in Erfurt. He remained entwined with the Bach family and worked for twelve years in Erfurt. His renown and skill grew dramatically during this time and in 1683 he published his first work at age 35, late for composer standards. His work was inspired by the death of his wife and only son to plague, the choral variations were titled “Musicalische Sterbens-Gedancken (Music Thoughts on Death). He later remarried and had 7 children.

He sought a better position in 1690 and moved to the court of his patron Duchess Magdalena Sibylla, where he worked for 2 years before fleeing from the French during the Nine Year’s War (France v Europe). He then worked as court organist at Gotha, and published his only liturgical collection in 1692. In 1695 he was invited to the position of organist at St Sebaldus’ Church back home in Nuremberg, he lived and worked in Nuremberg for the rest of his life, most of his work was published during this time.

Whilst Palchelbel was relatively famous in Germany during his life, his posthumous influence was limited. It wasn’t until the early 19th century that his work saw a resurgence and was truly appreciated.

The Music

O bone Jesu, fili Mariae (SWV 471) – Schutz: This feels like a large jump from what I listened to last week. Last week was a departure from typical sacred music, whilst this seems to have taken elements from traditional sacred music and secular music to create something new entirely. Musically there seems to be two distinct parts, solo vocal+instruments and a chorus. I quite enjoyed it honestly, seems to be a good balance for sacred music.

Sonata in G Major (BuxWV 273) – Buxtehude: A sonata! A musical form I recognise and absolutely love. This piece is beautifully crafted and typically Baroque, limited in emotion but mechanically so good. It’s very elated, a signature style of fast strings.

Sonata in B-Flat Major (BuxWV 273) – Buxtehude: This had a great sense of rhythm, and I enjoyed the way the instruments talked to each other, joyful and playful. However it was this point that I had my revelation. The Baroque period struggles with subtlety, and does not yet recognise the beauty of minimalism. Everything is more or less going at once, it’s amazing that that the composer is able to keep it harmonic and the skill to write something like this is insane. That is what the Baroque period is to me, the brilliance of having so much still sound good, yet sometimes less can be more, especially with strings.

Sonata in C Major (BuxWV 266) – Buxtehude: What I said about Buxtehude’s other sonatas more or less applies here. This particular piece was very intense and fast, it was impressive performance and typically Baroque.

Partie (Suite) in G Major – Pachelbel: I enjoyed this more, it seemed to capture subtlety a bit better. In addition there was a very impressive stylistic range between each part.

Partie (Suite) in E Minor – Pachelbel: More impressive strings with the occasional great intonation typical of later periods. The strings had great range, excitable and fast at times yet could also be more subtle and refined.

Aria con variazioni in A Major – Pachelbel: This was slower than previous pieces which was a nice change. It had a nice rhythm, and a particularly calm part (6 mins) which was refreshing to the usual barrage.

Overall it may sound like I am being negative toward this music but that’s not entirely true. A lot of pieces from today were very similar; same instruments, same style, just a slightly different execution. It can get tiring to listen to over an hour of many different pieces of music that are all very similar, if I had listened to each piece individually over a longer period I would’ve appreciated it much more. You can listen to any excerpt from the music today and it would all sound brilliant, because it is. It’s very very very well crafted, beyond my narrow comprehension.

Anyway, thank you for reading. Last week was my most successful week, which I feel was deserved because I think it was the best I have written so far. Next week we are focusing heavily on opera works of Henry Purcell which I am actually pretty excited for, should be some room for creative format and writing so stay tuned.