“Buxtehude’s ugly daughter.” “Buxtehude’s daughter was so old and ugly.” “Buxtehude’s ugly German daughter.” Even, “the Anna Margareta Buxtehude Barrier (Pictured AMBB).” One blog article going as far as to ponder “it occurred to me that western music might have worked out a whole lot differently if Buxtehude’s daughter had been better looking.”

Search for the great Baroque organist and composer, Dieterich Buxtehude online and the story of his ‘ugly daughter’ will flood your search engine results. 

It’s a story that appears to have been told for decades, perhaps longer. And one that, in my opinion, gives cause for 300 years of apologies to the subject herself. And it all stems from a story about three famous composer suitors, none of whom married into the Buxtehude family. 

Her name was Anna Margareta and she looked after her father until he died at the ripe age of 70. (Not a bad innings for 1707.)

As he approached the inevitable conclusion of his life, no doubt Mr Buxtehude started to think about his 30 year old daughter’s future and preserving his legacy and fortune as the chief organist and composer of the free city of Lubeck. 

Just as he had married the daughter of Mr Tunter (his predecessor), had had a large family with six daughters – seven including the little girl who died – and prospered financially and socially, so he wanted his youngest daughter to marry well. 

When the young Johnann Sebastian Bach turned up to learn from the great man, it’s possible he was considered as a suitor. 

However Bach was a terrible whinger; once he complained a bassoonist in his employ sounded as if he was ‘breaking wind after eating a green onion.’ He  had a bad time at senior school and had very strange ideas about preserving his family ‘bloodline’. 

And there is no evidence that he was even offered the job or Anna Margareta’s hand in marriage. 

One suiter down, two to go. 

Handel and Matheson were two young party lads from Hamburg. From wealthy families, the two loved to drink, play music and quarrel. And it’s true that Buxtehude did offer both of them his daughter’s hand in marriage. 

Mattheson wrote that “We [Mattheson and Handel] traveled together … We listened to that esteemed artist in his St Mary’s church with dignified attention. However, since he had proposed a marriage condition in the matter, for which neither of us expressed the slightest inclination, we took our leave …”

‘Traveled together’. ‘Slightest inclination’. Well, I’m not sure marriage was on either of their young hot-headed minds. 

For one thing, Handel never married. 

Mattheson, who had gained popularity as a singer by playing female roles before his voice settled into the tenor range, did marry, but the history books make various veiled comments about his married life. He spent a lot of time away on ‘diplomatic missions’ and his marriage was ‘without issue’. I think that means children, as he was known to be quarrelsome. 

Some musicologists now suggest perhaps Handel was homosexual. I wonder about Mattheson as well. However, I’m not concerned so much about this as I am clearing up the reputation and perception of Anna Margareta. Western classical music history is afterall mostly the creation of men. 

Given that Handel and Mattheson visited in 1703 and Bach in 1705, Anna Margareta could well have been betrothed to her husband-to-be, Johann Christian Schieferdecker. Regardless, she did manage to dodge a potentially unhappy future with a serial complainer, an absentee husband or as Handel’s ‘hangbag’. 

And while it appears Mr Buxtehude lived long enough to see his daughter married, he had passed in 1707 before the birth of his granddaughter, Johanna Sophia, in 1708. The only ‘issue’ of Anna and Johann. 

Tragically, Anna died just a year later at Christmas in 1709, when her daughter about one year old. A tragedy for any young family, and for the woman who had waited dutifully for such a long time to have a family. 

I have no doubt both Anna Margareta was beautiful in the eyes of her father, her husband and her newborn baby.

History is the repetition of stories we ourselves tell about the past. Each generation will have a different take on this history. This is mine.

Below is the original article I wrote.

Dieterich Buxtehude (1637 – 1707) was famous for many reasons. Foremost he was extraordinary organist, which is why I’m planning to explore his works this coming Lent. In preparation, I thought I I’d do some reading and share a bit of Dieterich’s history and context. While there was a lot of great information from which you can get a sense of the character of the person, if you Google ‘Buxtehude’ you’ll find plenty of rather unkind and disturbing references to his ‘ugly daughter.’

More about that in a moment, first to the good stuff.

Born in what is now Denmark, Buxtehude spent his life and career in the Free City of Lubeck. A center of commerce and trade with a thriving stock market and beautiful buildings.

Being self-organised made Lubeck an attractive place for trades and crafts to practice free from the imposition of style that was inherent in the system of patronage found elsewhere. Lubeck thrived under self-rule government from 1226 until 1937.

Taught by his father, who was also an organist, Buxtehude was famed to have studied with Frescabaldi himself. And while there is no evidence of this, it speaks to his reputation and worldliness.

He was apprenticed to the great Master of Music in Lubeck, Franz Tunder who was an exponent of the Venetian style and a great conduit for Italian music in Northern Europe. And, as was the practice he married Tunder’s daughter to seal the deal (the job and social standing) and became part of the local musical dynasty.

While his home life appears to have been happy – seven daughters, six survived childhood – his musical and performance prowess grew until he was quite possibly the most famous organist in the region.

J.S. Bach most likely walked the 280 miles to hear Buxtehude play and made his masters back home furious by staying away for four months after only being granted leave for one month.

Thanks to the extended stay, Bach was able to copy by hand a number of Buxtehude’s works which would have been lost otherwise.

Bach was far from the only budding or established composer who made the trek to meet the great Buxtehude. The list is long and distinguished: Handel, Scarlatti, Teleman, Mattheson, Walther, and many others.

And it’s thanks to Buxtehude’s famous Abenmusiken, a very successful series of concerts over Advent at St Mary’s Cathedral (pictured below), that we have one of the first printed concert programs.

So why has history been so unkind to his daughter? Google Buxtehude and this is what pops up:

And not just the armchair historians who are not only unkind to the woman but who are perpetuating this as fact and worse, as a funny fact. So, what do we know?

We know her name was Anna Margareta Buxtehude.

Buxtehude was nearing the end of this life, he died very old for the times at 70. His other daughters had either predeceased him or had married and had families of his own. At the age of 30 Anna Margareta (like young people now) seems to have been content living at home, reading and playing music.

Buxtehude’s own wife had been the daughter of his master who he apprenticed to and who taught him and set him up for success. As young, ambitious composers came to visit him, he obviously assessed them, their talents and capacity. Those who appeared to be suitable to inherit his position, home and possessions should also be prepared to marry his daughter. Seems legit to me.

Also, with no ability to work or provide for herself, what choice did she have? These were terrible times to be a woman who wanted her freedom and independence. And it appears no one has entertained the idea that maybe she declined one or more of these suitors.

A number of would-be suitors declined the ‘whole package’ – job, daughter, social position – as one musicologist calls it, this includes the famous ones: Bach, Handel and Handel’s best friend at the time (that’s a whole other story) Johann Mattheson. History and the rumors about Anna Margareta seem to stem mainly from the rejection of this particular merry band of mischief makers.

Bach was one to speak his mind in letters and minutes of meetings, famously trading insults with musicians and administrators alike. Once he accused a bassoonist of producing a sound like that of ‘breaking wind after eating a green onion.’ Interesting he is silent on the record of Anna Margareta and more interested in marrying his second cousin and preserve his family bloodline (?!).

Handel never married.

Mattheson wrote that “We [him and Handel] travelled together … We listened to that esteemed artist in his St Mary’s church with dignified attention. However, since he had proposed a marriage condition in the matter, for which neither of us expressed the slightest inclination, we took our leave …”

It’s not such a leap to imagine Matheson had no intention of settling down when he was due to inherit big back at home in Hamberg from his tax-collector dad.

Some articles are so unkind they even suggest that had Bach married Anna Margareta that the world would have robbed of the beauty of his music. Think the Anna Magdalene notebook etc. I like to think otherwise, and I hope this little article goes some way to offer a different opinion informed by the context of the time and historical fact.

Anna Margareta did get married to Johann Christian Schieferdecker who worked hard at his music to win the respect of his future father-in-law and eventually succeeded Dietrich Buxtehude as organist of the Marienkirche in Lübeck with his blessing, a position he held honourably until his death at the age of 54 in 1732.

Handel and Mattheson visited in 1703. Bach in 1705. Buxtehude died in 1707. He lived long enough to see Anna Margareta marry, no doubt a happy day for the old man. Sadly, not long enough to see the birth of his granddaughter, Johanna Sophia, in 1708.

Johanna Sophia was Anna Margareta’s only daughter, as she died just a year later at Christmas in 1709. A tragedy for any young family, and for the woman who had waiting such a long time to have her family and baby. At least Buxtehude was spared the pain of being present for the death of his daughter so quickly after her wedding and the birth of Johanna Sophia.

I have no doubt both Anna and Johanna were beautiful in the eyes of Dietrich and Johann, who, for the record, never remarried.