Die norddeutsche Orgeltoccata und die 'höchsten Formen der Instrumentalmusik' : Beobachtungen an der großen e-moll-Toccata von Nicolaus Bruhns

Abstract

After its rediscovery by Philipp Spitta, late 17th-c. German organ music was classified as 'pure instrumental music'. Seemingly an elementary misinterpretation, there is an element of truth in this, as can be seen from the compositional structure of the works and their special position within 17th-c. theories of form and genre (the stylus phantasticus). The term Grossform [overall form] suits the North German toccata better than any other pre-18th-c. instrumental music. The great E minor toccata by Nicolaus Bruhns is an example.