This edition is the result of Harald Vogel’s many years of practice as an organist and musicologist. The music text is based on a reevaluation of 17th- and 18th-century manuscripts containing the free organ and keyboard works by Buxtehude. Volume I contains the free organ repertoire with obbligato pedal and is organized in two books. The first subvolume (I/1, EB 9304) contains the Preface and the Preludes, whereas the second subvolume (I/2, EB 9305) contains Toccatas, Ostinato works, alternative versions and a Critical Report (in German only). The English Critical Report is provided as a download on our website.

The source edition is based on individual manuscripts and not on the combination of different transmitted versions. Where sources are of equal value, varying versions of some works are provided in the appendix of volume I/2. The users of this edition may decide on which version they prefer.

In Buxtehude’s free organ works, pedal playing reached a new dimension in terms of technical requirements. In work sections where not all bass notes can be reached with the left hand, notation on three staves is used for obligato pedaling, whereas two staves are used for an exclusive manual version. But there are also several toccata sections and fugues that can be interpreted as changing from pedal to manual execution. They are likewise notated on two staves.

In addition to a clear engraving and a reliable music text, the edition offers a comprehensive text section:

Differences from the extant source texts are presented in the Individual Notes in lists of corrections with systematic error analyses. They explain the notation convention, hitherto not taken into consideration, of including triple meter in the C (four-beat) notation. Comments on notation and performance-practice suggestions are kept separate from the Individual Notes. In the Commentary to the Individual Notes and in the text about the Key Usage is the meantone temperament, common in Buxtehude’s time, and its influence on the sound aesthetics of the free organ repertoire is discussed. The expressive sound effects are explained within the context of the possible liturgical use “sub communione,” resulting in new aspects of the relationship between the practical and study repertoires.