What is Dietrich Buxtehude?
{{Infobox person | name = Dieterich Buxtehude | image = Imagebuxtehude.jpg | alt = The only surviving portrait of Buxtehude, playing a viol, from ''A musical party'' by Johannes Voorhout, 1674 | caption = The only surviving portrait of Buxtehude, playing a [[viol]], from ''A musical party'' by [[Johannes Voorhout]] (1674) | birth_place = [[Helsingborg]], [[Scania]], [[Denmark–Norway]] | baptised = 1637 | death_date = {{Death date and age|1707|5|9|1637|1|1}} | death_place = [[Free City of Lübeck]], [[Holy Roman Empire]] | occupation = {{plainlist| * [[Composer]] * [[Organist]] }} | works = [[List of compositions by Dieterich Buxtehude]] }} '''Dietrich Buxtehude''' (or ''Dieterich'' according to Danish spelling) (born about 1637; died May 9, 1707) was a [[Germany|German]] (or [[Denmark|Danish)]] [[composer]] and [[pipe organ|organist]]. He is one of the most important composers of the mid-[[Baroque music|Baroque]] period. He is best known for his organ works which are very often heard at [[recital]]s and [[church]] [[service]]s. He also wrote a lot of excellent [[choral]] music and music for [[musical instrument|instruments]], including the [[viol|viola da gamba]], an instrument which he played. He had a very important influence on [[Johann Sebastian Bach]]. When Bach was a very young man he walked over 200 miles to hear Buxtehude play the organ. == Life == === Early years in Denmark === Very little is known of Buxtehude’s earliest years. We cannot be sure where he was born. His family came from the town of [[Buxtehude]] in North Germany but had moved to Oldesloe which is now in Germany but at that time it was part of Denmark. His father was organist in Oldesloe, but around the time of Dietrich’s birth the family moved to Helsingborg which is now called [[Hälsingborg]] and is in [[Sweden]], but at that time Helsingborg, too, was part of Denmark. In [[1641]] the family moved to Helsingør which was ju