Jos van Veldhoven - Dietrich Buxtehud: Membra Jesu Nostri (2007) [SACD]

This cycle, which is clearly not intended for liturgical use and dedicated to his friend Gustav Dben, must indubitably be seen as an expression of Buxtehude's own religious experience and personal devotion. In fact, we know unusually little about this great musician; no personal letters or anecdotes have survived. His music speaks to us all the more powerfully - especially the Membra Jesu Nostri, with its highly personal combination of introverted expressivity, deliberately simple declamation (here and there it can even be called naive), and great harmonic richness. No matter how alien the content of the medieval Latin text may be to our 21st-century sensibilities, it nevertheless inspired Buxtehude to produce a visionary setting, in a vivid cycle of compositions which still go straight to our hearts. Pieter Dirksen (from liner notes)

Tracks:

1. Ad pedes 'Ecce super montes' 08:26
2. Ad genua 'Ad ubera portabimini' 08:07
3. Ad manus 'Quid sunt plagae istae' 10:15
4. Ad latus 'Surge amica mea' 07:32
5. Ad pectus 'Sicut modo geniti infantes' 09:40
6. Ad cor 'Vulnerasti cor meum' 10:50
7. Ad faciem 'Illustra faciem tuam' 07:15

Fried- und Freudenreiche Hinfahrth (BuxWV76)
8. Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin
Contrapunctus I⁄Evolutio⁄Contrapunctus II⁄Evolutio 05:06
9. Klagelied: ‘Muß der Tod denn auch entbinden’ 04:35

Personnel:

Soprano Vocals (Soprano 1) – Anne Grimm
Soprano Vocals (Soprano 2) – Johannette Zomer
Tenor Vocals – Andrew Tortise
Alto Vocals – Peter de Groot
Bass Vocals – Bas Ramselaar
Ensemble – The Netherlands Bach Society
Conductor – Jos van Veldhoven
Double Bass – Dane Roberts
Organ, Clavichord, Liner Notes – Pieter Dirksen
Theorbo – Mike Fentross
Viola da Gamba – Eva Reiter, Josh Cheatham, Mieneke van der Velden, Nick Milne
Viola da Gamba (Also Continuo) – Ricardo Rodriguez Miranda
Violin – Antoinette Lohmann, Pieter Affourtit
Violoncello – Lucia Swarts