Years before
J.S. Bach paved the way toward what is now largely considered the height of the German Baroque,
Dietrich Buxtehude was hard at work in northern Germany on his own individual union of the Italian and French Baroque styles. His Op. 1 is a sumptuous, dynamic set of seven sonatas scored for violin, gamba, and continuo (played here by cello and harpsichord). Unlike composers both before and after him,
Buxtehude was far from formulaic when it came to the organization of his sonatas, each one having its own unique combination and sequence of movements. His originality did not stop there, to be sure. His harmonic progressions were quite progressive for the time, and the violin and gamba parts are outright virtuosic at many points through the set. Such forward-thinking compositions require an equally fresh, dynamic performance. This is provided in abundance by violinst
Manfredo Kraemer and gambist
Juan Manuel Quintana. Their playing ideally accentuates the risk-taking inherent in
Buxtehude's scores and do not make the mistake of treating the sonatas as stuffy, fragile works of art. Rather,
Kraemer and
Quintana play with exceptional gusto, virtuosity, and vitality, coupled with equal measures of thoughtfulness and refinement. The result is an album that leaves listeners wondering how these captivating works could have been dormant for so long.