Fried- und Freudenreiche Hinfarth by Buxtehude; performed by Dale Carr in Midwolde on 18 July, 1987

Описание: Fried- und Freudenreiche Hinfarth Des alten großgläubigen Simeons,
by Dieterich Buxtehude, published in 1674; performed by Dale Carr on the organ in Midwolde {Westerkwartier} on 18 July, 1987

Much can be, & has been, written about this fascinating work - its history, its notation, its construction.
I'll begin with its history: it was published in 1674 as a memorial to his father, as stated clearly on the t.p.: "bey seeligen ableiben / Des / Weiland [...] Herrn JOHANNIS / Buxtehuden ...". But the settings of "Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr' dahin" had been composed a few years earlier after the death of Menno Hanneken, a superintendent and minister at the Marienkirche in Lübeck where Buxtehude was employed. In the publication, Buxtehude added a Klaglied {Lament}, which is in a different key and requires a singer and 3 unspecified instruments. The instrumentation of the settings of "Mit Fried und Freud" is also not indicated.

Then its notation: as was frequent with learnéd polyphonic works, it was printed in open score, i.e. with each voice on a separate line. This makes it easier to follow an individual voice, but in this case it is much more difficult to coördinate them. Those who have tried to 'decipher' old notation have had to deal with the fact that simultaneous sounds are not always vertically aligned, as is now the custom. For example, a whole note might well be placed in the middle of a measure, rather than @ the beginning. In this publication not even the measure lines are vertically aligned {see the facsimile on the screen @ the end of the performance}. So I had to make my own edition on 2 staves, w/ the notes aligned in the modern manner.

Finally, the structure. This is where it gets really interesting :-)
There are 2x2 settings of the chorale "Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr' dahin". The 1st & 3rd are called 'Contrapunctus', meaning something like 'a learnèd contrapuntal work'. These 2 settings place the c.f. in the top voice. The 2nd & 4th settings, both called 'Evolutio', are developed directly from the 1st & 3rd by exchanging the voices.
In the 1st Evolutio, the top voice is made the lowest voice, & vice versa. The 2 inner voices are also exchanged; in all cases without further adjustments.
In the 2nd evolutio, a similar exchange is made to the 2nd Contrapunctus, but the voices themselves are also turned upside down, making upward leaps & steps into downward leaps & steps. Thus the c.f., for example becomes a-⭏d-d-e-⭏a-b-c-d, whereas before it was d-⭎a-a-g-⭎d-c-b-a. The same inversion is carried out for the inner voices; as a result, the whole piece is turned upside down. Of course it's not simply a matter of juggling dots according to a rule; the goal is to place the dots that are to be juggled so that the result of the juggling makes musical sense.
But that's not all: not only the intervals are inverted, but {as a result} also the harmonies & the cadences. Thus a standard dominant-tonic cadence {V-i} becomes a tonic-dominant cadence {i-V}, usually called a ½-cadence; or, depending on the context, possibly a subdominant-tonic cadence {iv-i}.
But even that's not all! Certain dissonances, called suspensions, are {in the practice of the time} always resolved by a downward stepwise movement of the dissonant tone. How does Buxtehude then avoid compositional errors? There are 2 possibilities: the 1st is to avoid writing suspensions if they'll need to be inverted, as they will in the Evolutio of Contrapunctus 2. By & large this is Buxtehude's choice in Contrapunctus 2. In the final cadence, however, he writes a fairly standard suspension {c#𝅘𝅥-d𝅗𝅥-c#𝅘𝅥}, then avails himself of the 2nd possibility, which is to make the 'evolution' inexact at precisely that point. To be precise, he changes the rhythm to 𝅘𝅥-𝅘𝅥-𝅗𝅥.
Caveat auditor!

The organ in Midwolde was originally built in 1630 by Levijn Eekman as a chamber organ for the occupants of the manor Nienoord in Leek, not far from the church in Midwolde. The builder's signature & the year are found on a parchment strip in the windchest. Around 1660 the organ was revised by Andreas de Mare, apparently with the purpose of making it suitable for use in the church. His name is found next to that of Eekman in the windchest. The instrument was restored in 1984-5 by Albert de Graaf.

Rgegistrations:
Contrapunctus 1: 8' Roerfluit;
Evolutio [1]: 4' Prestant;
Contrapunctus 2: 8', 2' Octaaf ;
Evolutio [2]: 8', 4', 2', 1½' Quint.