Composer Dietrich Buxtehude (1637 to 1707)

Organist and composer Dietrich Buxtehude was born around 1637 in either Danish Helsingborg or in Bad Oldesloe in Holstein. The German Duchy of Holstein was at that time held by the King of Denmark in personal union. Dietrich’s father Johannes was an organist, too, who moved from Oldesloe to Helsingborg around 1637. He worked there as an organist at St. Mary’s Church. In 1641, Johannes’ new appointment to St. Olai took the family to Swedish Helsingør where young Dietrich went to school. It is commonly assumed that he received his instructions as an organist from his father.

On recommendation of his father, Dietrich was appointed organist at St. Mary’s in Helsingborg in 1658 and in 1660 at St. Mary’s in Helsingør. In 1667, Hans Tunder died in Lübeck. He had held the post of organist at St. Mary’s in Lübeck for 26 years. Hearing of the vacancy, Dietrich submitted an application and was confirmed as the new organist in 1668. Moving to Lübeck, he married Tunder’s daughter as part of the deal. Lübeck was a lifetime appointment; part of the perks coming with the job of organist was the right to marry off a daughter to any successor.

Tunder had started little concerts called Abendmusik (evening music) in St. Mary’s; paid for by local craftsmen’s guilds these concerts were free to attend and were held at irregular intervals. In 1673, Buxtehude made them a fixture in the calendar with yearly concerts on the five Sundays leading up to Christmas. The concerts were held until 1810 and reintroduced in 1926. They are still running today. To cram in more musicians for these concerts, Buxtehude had additional galleries built into the church beside the big organ.

When Buxtehude announced his intention to retire in 1703, Johann Friedrich Handel and Johann Mattheson travelled to Lübeck and applied for the post. They retracted their applications after learning that they had to marry Buxtehude’s oldest surviving daughter. At 28, it may be inferred that she was no catch. In 1705, Johann Sebastian Bach travelled the 400 km (250 miles) from Arnstadt to Lübeck on foot. There are no records to show that he applied for the job as well, but he stayed long enough to study the works of Buxtehude for several months.