Buxtehude was a leading figure in the organ music of North Germany in the generation before Bach. His considerable influence extended to Bach himself and members of his circle, who copied and circulated his music. The present volume of organ music by one of the greatest composers for the instrument includes free preludes and preludes based on familiar Lutheran chorales, part of a repertoire that brought musical distinction to the city of Lübeck in the second half of the seventeenth century.