Happy Birthday, Franz Tunder!

I've never been to a 400^th birthday party before, let alone one with organ, baroque trumpets, sackbuts, cornetti and other period instruments! 

On May 8, Marienorganist Johannes Unger did his predecessors Petrus Hasse, Franz Tunder and Dieterich Buxtehude proud with his presentation of their music. Herr Unger directed Capella St. Marien, plus an excellent period instrument band and vocal soloists. There was also a special guest soloist: Dutch organist Pieter van Dijk, who played solo works by the three composers on St. Mary's Totentanz organ.

The star of the show was Franz Tunder, who was born in 1614. Poor Franz rarely gets to be the star anymore, overshadowed as he is by his more famous successor and son-in-law, the great DB. But Franz made an important contribution to Lübeck's musical history: he originated the famous Abendmusiken. It all started when Franz used to play the organ for Lübeck's wealthy merchants after work. Buxtehude took the idea and expanded it into a concert series featuring large-scale works for instruments and voices, complete with what we would now call 'corporate underwriting'! The tradition of Lübeck's Abendmusiken is still alive and well today, and we owe it all to Franz.

We heard several of his engaging cantatas, of which my absolute favorite was Hosianna dem Sohne David, which was joyous, dancelike, and even a bit martial at times. Tunder must have been a very inspiring guy, since this piece reminded me strongly of Buxtehude, especially in the interplay between the two violins, and in the more dramatic parts of the choral writing.

Speaking of Buxtehude (aren't I always??) Pieter van Dijk treated us to one of his most exuberant organ works, the Toccata in F, BuxWV 156. If you've never experienced Buxtehude's organ music, and want to know what all the fuss is about, that's a great place to start. Listening to Buxtehude's free organ works is like listening to a great story told aloud by a master storyteller. He never lets you get too comfortable; nope, he's off to the next thread before you know it!

The concert concluded with a work that must have been included in one of Bux's own Abendmusiken, the cantata Ihr lieben Christen, freut euch nun, BuxWV 51. As inundated with music as we are today, we can hardly imagine how thrilling it must have been back in the late 17^th century to hear a magnificent work like that, scored for 2 sopranos, alto, tenor, bass, choir, 3 cornetti, 2 trumpets, 3 sackbuts, 3 violins and basso continuo! Those of us who were in the audience (or listening along via the live internet broadcast of the concert) certainly got a taste of the exceptional musical life at St. Mary's, both in that century, and ours. 

PS- The sackbuts and trumpets pictured here were muted during parts of the performance. Now there's a unique sound! That effect was used to create a more intimate sound, so that one singer could be accompanied by brass instruments without being completely drowned out.