Vincent Lübeck

Despite Lübeck's longevity and fame, very few compositions by him survive: a handful of organ praeludia and chorales in the North German style, a few cantatas and several pieces for harpsichord, some of which were published during the composer's lifetime.

His reputation as organist, organ consultant and teacher grew steadily, and finally landed him the position at St. Nikolai in Hamburg in 1702; he was succeeded in Stade by his son, Peter Paul (1680–1732).

Hamburg was already one of the largest cities in Germany and had a long organ tradition associated first with pupils of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck: Heinrich Scheidemann, Jacob Praetorius, and others.

A number of other important composers worked in Hamburg in the late 17th century: among them Matthias Weckmann, who helped organize the concert life of the city, and the aforementioned Reincken, one of the most celebrated organists of his time.

The free sections often feature virtuosic pedal solos, and the G minor work includes double-pedal passages (see Example 1) of a type which is to be found several times in Reincken's output but which is absent from Buxtehude's.

There are twelve clearly defined sections, covering the entire first stanza of the chorale; numerous techniques are employed, including multiple instances of advanced hand-crossing, another feature periodically found in Reincken but not in Buxtehude.

[6] Lübeck's Clavier-Übung of 1728 consists of a single harpsichord suite, in which the traditional dances (allemande, courante, sarabande and gigue) are preceded by a prelude and fugue, and a chaconne, which is a simplistic two-voice piece, in which the chorale melody Lobt Gott, ihr Christen allzugleich by Nikolaus Herman is combined with an eight-bar ostinato.

[2] Of Lübeck's surviving cantatas, Gott wie dein Nahme, Hilff deinem Volck and Willkommen süsser Bräutigam are the less important ones, probably intended for small, average ensembles.

The remaining two works, commissioned by the Swedish administration in Stade, include separate instrumental movements, choruses and ritornello arias; they also feature more advanced writing.

An oil painting of Lübeck, executed between 1724 and 1734. [ 1 ]
The tower of St. Cosmae, Stade, where Lübeck worked for 18 years from 1675 to 1702
Example 1 . An example of five-voice texture with double pedals from the first section of Prelude and Fugue in G minor (bars 17–18)
Example 2 . Opening bars of the second fugue of Prelude and Fugue in E major . This is the manner in which Lübeck almost always treats countersubjects. The subject is highlighted in blue, the countersubject in orange.
Title page of Lübeck's Clavier Übung