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The Self-Fashioning Of A Consummate Musical Orator, Alexis A. Vanzalen

Lawrence University Honors Projects

In 1697 the organist and composer Dieterich Buxtehude (1637-1707) was deemed “world famous” by a guidebook to the German city in which he lived, Lübeck. Such public acclaim for a musician was unusual in this society where musicians were generally looked down upon and stereotyped as dishonorable and picaresque outsiders. In this context, Buxtehude’s situation begs the question, how did he come to have such an esteemed reputation?

As I will argue, Buxtehude actively fashioned his reputation as an adept member of his capitalistic society, a useful civil servant, and an accomplished and complete musician, throughout his life. In large …