Arcangelo - Buxtehude Trio Sonatas Op 1

The Guardian 80

Gent/Manson/Dunford/Cohen
(Alpha)

For those who may think of Buxtehude mostly as a dusty precursor to the great baroque composers, the sensuousness and joy of the music on this disc will come as a very pleasing surprise. These seven sonatas were published as his Opus 1, but Buxtehude was at the height of his career when he wrote them, and there’s a master’s skill in the way he plays with the complementary yet contrasting violin and viol, sometimes bringing them together in close, harmonious duet, at others letting them spin apart and show their differing personalities. Harmonies crunch deliciously without becoming tough and chewy. Harpsichordist Jonathan Cohen is joined by three musicians from his ensemble Arcangelo: Sophie Gent’s violin and Jonathan Manson’s viol chase, imitate and dance with each other, while Cohen and the lutenist Thomas Dunford provide buoyantly beautiful accompaniments, full of detail yet light as air.