classical the sixteen membra jesu nostri (linn) HHH

THE music of Dietrich Buxtehude, if performed by a first-class ensemble, encapsulates everything that is wonderful about the Baroque era. This is such an example. It is polyphonic music at its most pure and silky, somehow lighter and more contemplative than many of the compositions of Buxtehude's more illustrious colleague, Johann Sebastian Bach. Membra Jesu Nostri is a passion-meditation on the death of Christ which consists of seven cantatas - each one refers respectively to seven parts of the Son of God's body on the cross - his feet, knees, hands, side, breast, heart and face. The Sixteen, made up of five singers and a small orchestral ensemble directed as ever by Harry Christopher, perform the work with lightness of voice and touch without shirking the music's technical demands. Only the diction is not of the highest quality. Otherwise, it is an excellent performance.

Philip Gates

Copyright 2001
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