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Members of The Buxtehude Consort rehearse Membra Jesu Nostri.

presents 
Dietrich Buxtehude's
Membra Jesu Nostri

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Join the Buxtehude Consort on April 9 and 10 to hear the Philadelphia premiere of Membra Jesu Nostri by Dietrich Buxtehude (c.1637-1707).  Composed in 1680, Membra Jesu Nostri is a sublime masterwork of the Middle Baroque requiring unusual musical forces, including a five-voice choir (SSATB, sung one voice to a part in our performance), 2 violins, 5 viole da gamba, and a continuo ensemble.  For the seven cantatas which comprise Membra Jesu Nostri, Buxtehude mixed biblical texts with strophes from Rhythmica Oratio, a medieval poem probably by Arnulf of Louvain (d. 1250).  Intended to be performed during the Christian Lenten calendar, each of the cantatas is devoted to a different part of Christ's crucified body, and together form what is considered to be one of the first Lutheran oratorios.

The Friday, April 9 performance will be at the historic Church of the Crucifixion in the Bella Vista neighborhood of Center City Philadelphia.  
The Saturday, April 10 performance will take place at the beautiful St. Paul's Episcopal Church at Chestnut Hill.  

Founded in 2009 by artistic director John Fowler, the Buxtehude Consort is an ensemble of top Baroque musicians devoted to performing vocal and instrumental chamber works of the Baroque.  The musicians performing in this concert are listed below:

Molly Quinn, soprano

Jenifer L. Smith, mezzo-soprano

Maren Montalbano Brehm, mezzo-soprano

Steve Bradshaw, tenor

John L. Fowler, baritone


Marika Holmqvist, Daniel Elyar, violins

Vivian Barton, Donna Fournier, Jane Leggiero, Eve Miller and Zoe Weiss, viole da gamba

Katie Rietman, violoncello

Richard Stone, theorbo

Zach Hemenway, organ 


Please sign up at the bottom of this page to be kept apprised of concert dates and venues.  Also, if you would like to support The Buxtehude Consort, please contact Artistic Director John Fowler at admin@buxtehudeconsort.org.

The Buxtehude Consort's Membra Jesu Nostri project is supported by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency, through its regional arts funding partnership, Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts (PPA).  State government funding for the arts depends upon an annual appropriation by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.  PPA is administered in this region by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance.

Additional support of the Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts (PPA) Partnership in Southeastern Pennsylvania is provided by PECO.


                    



Press reviews of the Buxtehude Consort:

    August 15, 2009 concert:
    June 24, 2009 concert: