These sonatas for violin, viola da gamba and harpsichord were published in Hamburg in 1696, not many years before Handel and Bach both independently made the pilgrimage to St Mary’s Church in Lübeck to learn from the famous organist and church-music composer. Recorded in 1994, it is commendable that Naxos is now giving this exemplary disc a new lease of life as part of its allegedly complete survey of Buxtehude’s chamber music.

Jonathan Freeman-Attwood’s verdict on the original release was that it is ‘not exactly revelatory’ but that these ‘persuasive advocates’ use a ‘resolutely genial’ approach. Perhaps that verdict undersells the disc a little. To my ears, the finely contoured interplay between John Holloway and Jaap ter Linden is fluent and warmly expressive. Holloway – the winner of a Gramophone Award in 1991 for his Biber sonatas – is dazzling in the 18 variations of the ‘Concitato’ of Sonata No 5 in A major. Impeccably shaded, sweet string playing is attractively counterweighted by Lars Ulrik Mortensen’s harpsichord continuo, which is vivid without ever seeming forceful.

Where one might expect some monotony from a limited textural palette, Buxtehude’s bold brilliance provides ample scope for a compelling range of moods and colours, from sublime melancholy in adagios to energetic fizzing in brilliant fast movements. The reverberant church acoustic reminds us that Buxtehude could have performed sonatas at St Mary’s on major feast days.