Buchner, Philipp Friedrich (EN)

Buchner, Buchnero, Bucnero, Philipp Friedrich, *10 September 1614 in Wertheim am Main (Franconia), †23 March 1669 in Würzburg (Bavaria), German composer. He came from a Lutheran family of musicians. As a boy, he studied and sang in the choir at the Barfüsserkirche in Frankfurt am Main (1625–30). He then obtained a position as organist at St. Bartholomew’s Cathedral in Frankfurt (1634–36). In 1636, he left Frankfurt am Main. Perhaps as early as around 1637, but most likely from 1641, he worked in Wiśnicz at the court of Stanisław Lubomirski, Voivode of Ruthenia and Krakow. He remained in Poland until around 1645, after which he probably stayed in Italy and France. He then took up the position of musician at the court of Bishop J.Ph. von Schönborn in Würzburg. After J.Ph. von Schönborn’s appointment as archbishop and elector in Mainz (1647), Buchner moved to his court, where he worked as a bandmaster.

Buchner’s activity as a musician and composer in the years 1641–45 was closely connected with the band of S. Lubomirski, of which he was a member, and in 1645, bandmaster. In Wiśnicz, he composed two collections of Concerti ecclesiastici, the first of which (1642) he dedicated to S. Lubomirski, and the second (1644) to King Władysław IV. The composer dedicated two concertos from the collection published in 1644 to musicians from the Wiśnicz band: G.B. Mealli and G.U. Borletta. Buchner’s church concerts were part of the repertoire of S. Lubomirski’s ensemble. His works (not preserved; titles known from music inventories) were also included in the repertoire of the Carmelite bands in Piasek in Krakow, the Franciscans in Lviv, the Piarists in Prievidza and Podolinec, as well as the band of St. Catherine’s Church in Gdańsk in the second half of the 17th century.

Stylistically, Buchner’s work belongs to the early Baroque period. Concerti ecclesiastici, mostly intended for a vocal ensemble and basso continuo, include works that are diverse in terms of instrumentation, formal structure, the complexity of individual compositions, and the type of melodics. They represent a multi-movement concerto. The imitative technique, often used in a concertante manner, predominates in them. The music is strongly linked to the sacred text, whose meaning is conveyed by affective melodic phrases, chromaticism (rarely) or more virtuosic arrangements of certain fragments. The sonatas from the Plectrum collection are intended for various sets of instruments, with 13 sonatas being written for a trio. They usually consist of 3–4 parts contrasting in terms of tempo and instrumental texture, whose arrangement sometimes resembles that of a sonata da chiesa; they are characterized by a predominance of imitation. The sonatas with a smaller instrumentation are more virtuosic. Sonata no. 9 from the Plectrum collection (for two bassoons and basso continuo) is one of the earlier examples in bassoon literature.

Literature: O. Günter Katalog der Danziger Stadtbibliothek, vol. 4: Katalog der Handschriften, part 4, Danzig 1911; A. Gottron Ph.F. Buchner…, «Würzburger Diözesangeschichtsblätter» VII, 1939; W. Rutkowska Ph.F. Buchner. Concerti ecclesiastici, “Muzyka” 1976 no. 3; T. Maciejewski Inwentarz muzykaliów kapeli karmelickiej w Krakowie na Piasku z lat 1665–1684, “Muzyka” 1976 no. 2; M. Perz Na marginesie polskich inwentarzy muzycznych II poł. XVII wieku oraz traktatu M.H. Schachta „Musicus danicus”, “Muzyka” 1977 no. 3; R. Klingsporn Philipp Friedrich Buchner und der Mainzer Psalter des Johann Philipp von Schönborn, in: Mitteilungen der Internationalen Joseph Martin Kraus-Gesellschaft 15–17, 1998; D. Popinigis Musicalia Gedanenses, Rękopisy muzyczne z XVI i XVII wieku w zbiorach Biblioteki Gdańskiej Polskiej Akademii Nauk. Katalog, Gdańsk 1990; J. Kalinayová Hudobné inventáre a repertoár viachlesnej hudby na Slovensku v 16. – 17. storočí, Bratislava 1994; A. Dacewicz Franciszkańskie inwentarze muzyczne z II połowy XVII wieku, “W Nurcie Franciszkańskim” 2012 no. 19.