Dieterich Buxtehude’s vocal compositions represent all major genres that were current in Lutheran church music of the later 17th century. They included in particular chorale settings, concertos on biblical texts, arias on contemporary sacred poetry, dialogues, and composite forms such as concertoaria cantatas. Preeminent among them were various kinds of settings based on traditional songs from the church hymnal, i.e., “chorales” in Lutheran terminology.

This Volume includes chorale settings ("All solch dein Güt' wir preisen", "Herzlich tut mich verlangen"), arias like "An filius non est Dei, fons gratiae salus mei", which constitue an important and characteristic part of his sacred music, Ciacconas ("Laudate, pueri, Dominum", "Quemadmodum desiderat cervus") Concertos, which were the most prominent type of vocal-instrumental church music in the 17th century, and Cantata.