With Bach, approaches to interpretation may be many and varied but there is some kind of established yardstick for such matters as tempo and dynamics. When it comes to Buxtehude, things are very different. There is no well-trodden path to these matters and, as a consequence, performances of his organ music vary very widely indeed; it is a case of choosing your guide and then trusting that you will be led along acceptable paths. Those who choose Friedhelm Flamme’s approach are in for a turbulent, confusing but ultimately hugely rewarding ride.

While Flamme has a fine record of trustworthy interpretations of the North German Baroque, if it is possible to be unconventional in performing Buxtehude, he certainly is. His tempos often feel as if they are lurching from one extreme to another, while his registrations seem almost perverse, with passages other organists might feel deserve a full organ delivered on a single four-foot flute, and gentle, lyrical ideas thundering out on pretty near full organ. It certainly takes some getting used to, but the effort (if that’s what it is) is well worthwhile; in the end, these are enthralling and thought-provoking performances. Even the relatively familiar works (taking the G minor Praeludium as an example) are virtually unrecognisable here, but they are unquestionably convincing interpretations.

This two-disc set is the second in Flamme’s series of the complete Buxtehude organ works for CPO, and like the first was recorded on the Christoph Treutmann organ of the Klosterkirche St Georg zu Grauhof in Goslar. Built between 1734 and 1737, it is an interesting instrument that suits Flamme’s style of playing well, and provides him with as much organ colour as he seems to want. Perhaps some things seem a little heavy (Magnificat primi toni), and this is particularly apparent when Flamme turns on the organ’s really delicate charms (In dulci jubilo) and we hear something utterly enchanting.

The two discs each combine chorale-based works – with a focus on those associated with Advent and Christmas – with the bigger free-form pieces. But while the first disc brings us larger-scale chorale partita-type works, the second is more concerned with the short chorale preludes, often presented in pairs sharing the same chorale melody. Such complex programming makes this series impossible to mix with those from other players; but there again, so individualistic is Flamme’s approach that it would seem quite inappropriate to set it alongside any of the others currently available.