Artistic director and organist Masaaki Suzuki performs the solo cantatas of Nicolaus Bruhns with Dann Coakwell ‘11, James Taylor, and Paul Max Tipton ‘10.
Robert Mealy, violin
Program:
Prelude in G Minor (Buxtehude)
Cantata II. Der Herr hat seinen Stuhl in Himmel bereitet (Bruhns)
Cantata III. Jauchzet dem Herren (Bruhns)
Cantata IV. De profundis clamavi (Bruhns)
Toccata in D Minor, BuxWV 155 (Buxtehude)
Cantata V. Mein Herz ist bereit (Bruhns)
Cantata VII. Paratum cor meum (Bruhns)
Cantata XII. Erstanden ist der heilige Christ (Bruhns)
Nicolaus Bruhns’s talent as a composer, keyboardist, and string player was apparent from an early age. Born in 1665 in the North German town of Schwabstedt, at sixteen he was sent 100 miles south to Lübeck to study violin and viola da gamba under his uncle, Peter, and to perfect his art in organ and composition with the famed musician Dieterich Buxtehude. Bruhns soon became Buxtehude’s favorite pupil, and was sent with the highest recommendation to the Danish capital of Copenhagen, where he pursued professional work as a virtuoso violinist and composer. Copenhagen’s status as a major trading center gave Bruhns exposure to musicians and musical styles from across Europe, and the influence of Italian music of the time became readily apparent in his work. In 1689 he won the post of organist at the Stadtkirche in Husum, Germany, where he enjoyed tremendous appreciation for his fine musical skills until his untimely death at the age of thirty-one in 1697. Only five organ works and twelve sacred cantatas are what remain of his compositions–a tantalizing glimpse of his musical talent and promise.
Note by Stephen Gamboa-Diaz