Membra Jesu Nostri - Buxtehude - Lautten Compagney

Dietrich Buxtehude (1637 – 1707)

Membra Jesu Nostri (BuxWV 75)

Lautten Compagney
Capella Angelica
Wolfgang Katschner


Dietrich Buxtehude’s cantata cycle Membra Jesu Nostri is one of the most extraordinary musical works of the seventeenth century. On the basis of a mystical medieval text, the Lübeck organist developed a seven-part Passion meditation that stands out clearly from the Protestant tradition of the contemplation of the Passion of Christ. The occasion for and the performance context of this cycle are just as unknown as is Buxtehude’s motivation for composing this work. The textual basis of Membra (i.e., limb, body part) is a collection of Latin hymns, each of which addresses a part of the body of the crucified Christ, always greeting it with “salve” (i.e., hail!). Whereas originally only the five wounds mentioned in the Bible – on Christ’s feet, knees, hands, side, and the face – were treated, the collection was later extended by independently written verses to the chest and the heart.
On this recording the Lautten Compagney and Capella Angelica under Wolfgang Katschner have been supplemented the cantata cycle by „Herr, wenn ich nur dich hab“ and „Jesu, meines Lebens Leben“. Both concertos deal with the soul’s close relationship to Christ: Like the Membra, they address the listener’s emotions and want to impart upon him to need to focus the heart and faith completely on the salutary nearness to God.