Marie-Ange Leurent, Eric Lebrun - Buxtehude: Phantasticus - Integrale des oeuvres pour orgue / The complete organ works (2006)

Recorded by Marie-Ange Leurent and Eric Lebrun between 2005 and 2006, following 14 years of in-depth research, and issued by Bayard Musique in 2007 as separate discs, the complete organ works of Dietrich Buxtehude are presented in this six-CD slip-covered set. Arranged according to the liturgical seasons, Advent, Christmas, Lent, Passiontide, and Easter, with a disc devoted to music in honor of the Virgin Mary, the set gives a thorough exploration of the Baroque forms that Buxtehude employed, including preludes, fugues, toccatas, chorale preludes, and chaconnes, all highly influential on German composers, most especially Johann Sebastian Bach. Leurent and Lebrun used three organs for these recordings: the organ at St. Mary's Church, Helsingør, Denmark, the organ of St Paul's-Eppan, South Tyrol, Italy, and the organ of St. Cyprian in Périgord, France, and their registrations are documented in the accompanying booklet. This 2015 reissue isn't a deluxe package, but the quality is in the meticulous performances, and the sound is exceptionally clear and focused for church recordings.