Search - Annette Sichelschmidt, Francois Petit-Laurent, René Jacobs :: Membra Jesu Nostri / Heut Triumphieret Gottes Sohn

Cantus Colln Konrad Junghanel The seven Passion cantatas the comprise Buxtehude's Membra Jesu Nostri were written in 1680. This classic of German Baroque sacred music is based on the medieval Lati hymn, "Salve mundi salutare." The work is written from the perspective of an imaginary observer of Christ's sufferings. It directs one's gaze upwards, from the feet (Ad pedes) to the face (Ad faciem) by way of the knees, the hand, the side, the breast and the heart. The chorale cantata Nimm von uns, Herr, de treuer Gott displays a number of notable parallels with the Membra Jesu Nostri cycle. Like the larger work, it has survived in autograph tablature in the Dueben collection. German traditions are also well to the fore, as is immediately evident from the use of the urgent penitential chorale by Martin Moller, written at the time of the great plague epidemic of 1584. The result is an