Creative glue Buxtehude and the sonata, heard by BASIL RAMSEY harmonia mundi    HMC 901746

Sadly, my chance questioning of musical friends about the life and work of Dietrich Buxtehude came to a pitiful end, not because his name was unknown, but in facing vagueness about his music. To be fair, organists know that he wrote for their instrument, but rare the soul who plays, maybe, a few solitary chorale preludes.

This is not a dedicated witch hunt, simply a quest for facts amongst those who might know the music. Even this CD's prefatory material says that he 'is little known until now', against which the release of a few records and some broadcasts around Europe is hardly a revival.

This CD from harmonia mundi, a company known for its exploratory policy matches their reputation for music, performance and presentation. Planning for this disc has put the opus 1 set of VII Suonate a due for violin, cello and continuo together in performances that sparkle with life [listen -- track 34, 0:00-0:43], and display both Buxtehude's potential for contrapuntal vivacity and touches of creative glue to build structures.

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Record Box is Music & Vision's regular Saturday series of shorter CD reviews