Ricercar Consort, Philippe Pierlot – Buxtehude: Membra Jesu Nostri (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Composed by Dietrich Buxtehude in 1680 for the church of Lübeck, where he had been working for ten years, Membra Jesu Nostri describes the scars of the Passion of Christ through a cycle of seven cantatas. The work owes its title to a Latin manuscript written by a relative of Saint Bernard. Typical of the pietism of 17th century Lutheran Germany, the piece is a descent into the darkness of suffering and an ode to the promise of consolation. Grounded in rhetoric, Buxtehude’s music influenced a generation of innovative musicians. It would later be an inspiration to Johann Sebastian Bach, who traveled to Lübeck specifically to meet Buxtehude. Membra Jesus Nostri was written for a five-voice ensemble. It requires a set of soloists with three lower voices and two upper parts, as well as a subtle instrumental accompaniment featuring two violins, five viols, and one basso continuo chose by the musicians. Some authors have seen the influence of the “Versailles Motet,” which Buxtehude knew well, in this setup. The influence of Italian music, especially Monteverdi, which he may have known through his interest in Schütz’s music, is also clear. The work is the testimony to Buxtehude’s incredibly expressive power and deserves to be considered as a masterpiece among other spiritual compositions such as Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien, Bach’s Passions and, on an instrumental level, Biber’s Sonates du Rosaire. According to Philippe Pierlot, who can be heard on the record, “Buxtehude is appealing directly to our senses and making us experience the suffering of Christ. We can feel the wounds, the blows, and the heart when it ceases to beat. Thanks to the genius of his music, the composer not only moves his listener to intense emotion, but also enlightens him, giving him access to the deep meaning of the text it sings” – François Hudry

Tracklist:
1-01. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75: Sonata [Ad pedes] (00:41)
1-02. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad pedes: Concerto “Ecce super montes pedes evangelizantis” (01:08)
1-03. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad pedes: Aria “Salve mundi salutare” (01:32)
1-04. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad pedes: Aria “Clavos pedum, plagas duras” (01:33)
1-05. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad pedes: Aria “Dulcis Jesu, pie Deus” (01:39)
1-06. Philippe Pierlot – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75: Concerto [Ad pedes] (01:07)
1-07. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad pedes: Salve mundi salutare (01:07)
1-08. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad genua: Sonata in tremulo (01:15)
1-09. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad genua: Concerto Ad ubera portabimini (02:08)
1-10. Philippe Pierlot – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad genua: Aria “Salve Jesu, rex sanctorum” (01:16)
1-11. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad genua: Aria “Quid sum tibi responsurus” (01:11)
1-12. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad genua: Aria “Ut te quaeram mente pura” (01:15)
1-13. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75: Concerto [Ad genua] (02:17)
1-14. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75: Sonata [Ad manus) (00:44)
1-15. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad manus: Concerto “Quid sunt plagae istae in medio manuum tuarum?” (01:55)
1-16. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad manus: Aria “Salve Jesu, pastor bone” (01:34)
1-17. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad manus: Aria “Manus sanctae, vos amplector” (01:37)
1-18. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad manus: Aria “In cruore tuo lotum” (01:41)
1-19. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75: Concerto [Ad manus] (02:19)
1-20. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75: Sonata [Ad latus] (00:34)
1-21. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad latus: Concerto “Surge, amica mea” (01:32)
1-22. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad latus: Aria “Salve latus salvatoris” (01:21)
1-23. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad latus: Aria “Ecce tibi appropinquo” (01:16)
1-24. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad latus: Aria “Hora mortis meus flatus” (01:30)
1-25. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75: Concerto [Ad latus] (01:41)
1-26. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75: Sonata [Ad pectus] (00:40)
1-27. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad pectus: Concerto a 3 voci “Sicut modo geniti infantes rationabiles” (02:48)
1-28. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad pectus: Aria “Salve, salus mea” (01:23)
1-29. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad pectus: Aria “Pectus mihi confer mundum” (01:26)
1-30. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad pectus: Aria “Ave, verum templum Dei” (01:31)
1-31. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75: Concerto a 3 voci [Ad pectus] (03:18)
1-32. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75: Sonata [Ad cor] (01:55)
1-33. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad cor: Concerto a 3 voci “Vulnerasti cor meum” (02:18)
1-34. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad cor: Aria “Summi regis cor, aveto” (00:50)
1-35. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad cor: Aria “Per medullam cordis mei” (00:52)
1-36. Ricercart Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad cor: Aria “Viva cordis voce clamo” (01:21)
1-37. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75: Concerto a 3 voci [Ad cor] (02:20)
1-38. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75: Sonata [Ad faciem] (00:42)
1-39. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad faciem: Concerto “Illustra faciem tuam” (01:31)
1-40. Mena Guillon Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad faciem: Aria “Salve, caput cruentatum” (01:19)
1-41. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad faciem: Aria “Dum me mori est necesse” (01:09)
1-42. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad faciem: Aria “Cum me jubes emigrare” (00:54)
1-43. Ricercar Consort – Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, Ad faciem: Concerto “Amen” (01:29)
1-44. Ricercar Consort – Gott Hilf Mir, BuxWV 34: Sonata (01:45)
1-45. Ricercar Consort – Gott Hilf Mir, BuxWV 34: Gott, hilf mir (03:01)
1-46. Ricercar Consort – Gott Hilf Mir, BuxWV 34: Concerto Fürchte dich nicht (01:12)
1-47. Ricercar Consort – Gott Hilf Mir, BuxWV 34: Israel, hoffe auf den Herren (01:00)
1-48. Ricercar Consort – Gott Hilf Mir, BuxWV 34: Choral “Wer hofft in Gott” (01:41)
1-49. Ricercar Consort – Gott Hilf Mir, BuxWV 34: Aria “Ach ja, mein Gott, ich hoff auf dich” (04:26)
1-50. Ricercar Consort – Gott Hilf Mir, BuxWV 34: Concerto “Israel, hoffe auf den Herren” (02:34)