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Dietrich Buxtehude (circa 1637-1707): Sonata in B-flat Major, BuxWV 273
Sonata-Allemand-Courant-Saraband-Gigue
00:00 Opening
00:18 Sonata
08:29 Allemand
10:07 Courant
11:30 Saraband
12:57 Gigue
14:23 Credits
Jude Ziliak, violin • William Skeen, viola da gamba • Steven Lehning, violone • Corey Jamason, harpsichord
Eddie Frank, video • Chris Landen, audio
American Bach Soloists • Jeffrey Thomas, Artistic Director
Filmed in May 2021 in the Great Hall at the Castello di Amorosa (Calistoga, California).
How we made the video: americanbach.org/Videos-Backs...
Buxtehude was certainly Bach's greatest inspiration. It was in 1705 that Bach, then only 20 years old, traveled over 250 on foot to hear the famous North German composer perform. Buxtehude was nearly 50 years older at the time, and his music so greatly influenced Bach that we hear evidence of that impact even at the end of Bach's career. While Buxtehude is certainly not a late Baroque composer, we include his music on this program because of the profound effect that it had on Bach. The Sonata in B-flat Major begins with a 14-note theme played 32 times by the bass instruments (violone and harpsichord), while a solo violin and solo viola da gamba perform variations above the repeated bass line, all of this amounting to a kind of chaconne. A sequence of shorter sections brings the sonata portion to its close, but a suite of dances follows, perhaps following in suit to the opening chaconne, that includes an Allemand, a Courant, a Saraband, and a sprightly Gigue. Listen carefully to the second half of the Gigue: It begins with a 2-bar motif that Bach would later utilize in the final movement of his Fifth Brandenburg Concerto, certainly as an homage to the composer that he so greatly revered.
© 2021, American Bach Soloists
American Bach Soloists (ABS) are leading performers in the field of Baroque music, dedicated to historically informed performances of Bach and his contemporaries. ABS provides meaningful, memorable, and valuable musical experiences for our audiences through inspiring performances and recordings, and it supports the preservation of early music through educational programs for students and emerging professionals. Under the leadership of co-founder and Music Director Jeffrey Thomas, the ensemble has achieved its vision of assembling the world’s finest vocalists and period-instrument performers to bring this brilliant music to life.
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