EARLY ORGAN MUSIC
Played by G. D. CUNNINGHAM
Relayed from THE Queen's
HALL
(Sole Lessees, Messrs. Chappell and Co., Ltd.)
German Composers :
Choral, Da Jesu an dem
Kreuze standt (When Jesus bound upon the Cross)
Scheidt (1587-1654)
Toccata
Froberger (1615(?)-1667)
Passacaglia...Kerll (1627-1693) Fugue in F Sharp Minor
Buxtehude (1637-1707)
THE composers from whom
Bach immediately derived
(and who, in their turn, derived from the Dutch master,
Sweelinck) were Froberger, Reinken, Buxtchude, Pachelbel, Schütz, Scliein, and Scheldt. Of the last three, all born in Germany aliout the same time and known as the ' three S's,' Schiitz was the greatest, but Samuel Scheldt was the more celebrated organist. Called the ' German Frescolialdi,' he was a pupil of Sweelinck, who, though only fifteen years his senior, exercised so profound an influence on him that Seheiilt made the organ his chief medium of expression. He improved the manner of writing for the organ immensely, did away with a lot of the older ornamental virtuosity, introduced a soit of orchestral colour in his organ pieces, and inaugurated the practice of composing with more regard for pure music than for technical ingenuity.
Johann Jacob Froberger , a pupil of Frescobaldi, came to London in 1662 and for a time held the post of organ-blower at Westminster Abbey. There survives a story that he was rated by Christopher Gibbons , the organist, for over-blowing the bellows on the occasion of Charles II's marriage.
Dietrich Buxtehude was the celebrated organist of Liibeek. To hear him play, Bach, when a young man, walked 200 miles, so great was his fame as organ player and teacher. Both as organist and composer he was one of the chief influences in the development of Bach's genius.