Buxtehude, Passacaglia in D Minor, BuxWV 161

Leon W. Couch III plays the Passacaglia in D Minor, BuxWV 161, by Dieterich Buxtehude on the 69-rank Schantz organ in Shattuck Auditorium at Carroll University on October 7, 2012, as part of a lecture-recital on musical rhetoric of the 17th century. Notice the historical fingering: This fingering is convenient in this music. The stop changes are intended to reflect the affection and serve the interests of the audience listening in this specific venue--not registrations for people who passed away several centuries ago. This is a rhetorical approach: We adjust what we do as the performer to suit the audience. It is a-historical to play things without consideration of the audience. Also, please note that these registration changes really are no problem for a performer on a true historic organ. I’ve played these there of course and can pull all my own stops with very little effort. So, I hope listeners will accept that informed artists can still be creative musicians. Please forgive a few