Dietrich Buxtehude › BuxWV 161
Passacaglia in D minor
Scores
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![Passacaglia in D minor, BuxWV 161 [#924918].pdf](/files/_pending_vlm/Organ/Buxtehude%2C%20Dietrich/Passacaglia%20in%20D%20minor%2C%20BuxWV%20161/Passacaglia%20in%20D%20minor%2C%20BuxWV%20161%20%5B%23924918%5D.p4.png)
How to play
- Registration
- Structured registration is non-negotiable here. Four large sections (each of seven statements of the ground); build through the first three, withdraw, rebuild for the fourth. Begin Principal 8' + 4'; add 2' and Mixture; full plenum with reeds for the third section's climax; reset before the final section. Pedal: 16'+8' throughout, with reed only at climaxes.
- Tempo
- Inexorable triple pulse. The piece's character depends on the rhythmic discipline of the bass — never lose the dance. Approximate quarter-note ≈ 80.
- Articulation
- Ostinato strictly articulated; upper voices grow more legato in the lyrical second section, return to detached in the figured third.
- Ornamentation
- Trills at cadences only. The famous Robert Schumann transcription tradition over-ornaments; the original is austere.
Historical context
The Passacaglia in D minor is among the most architecturally ambitious organ works of the seventeenth century. Twenty-eight statements of a four-bar ground are grouped into four sections of seven, separated by short modulating interludes. The proportions are deliberate — symmetry of the highest order, and direct ancestor to Bach’s Passacaglia in C minor (BWV 582), which Bach almost certainly knew through his Lübeck pilgrimage.
The piece’s reputation rests on its sense of inevitability. Practise the ostinato bass alone until it has its own life; only then add the upper voices.
Structure
1 passacaglia
From Wikipedia
Passacaglia in D minor is an organ work by Dieterich Buxtehude. It is generally acknowledged as one of his most important works, and was possibly an influence on Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, as well as Brahms' music.
Further reading
- IMSLP work page
- MusicBrainz · 40 known recordings
- Wikidata
Listen (synthesised)
IMSLP167165-WIMA.02c7-Buxtehude,Passacaglia.mid
IMSLP216381-WIMA.5d35-Buxtehude-Passacaglia-Dm.mid