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Walter Kraft

Born: 9th June 1905, Cologne, Germany

Died: 9th May 1977, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Nationality: German

Walter Kraft was a German organist and composer, best known for his remarkably long tenure (almost half a century, 1926–72) at the Marienkirche, Lübeck.

During this tenure, Kraft, who had been a student of Paul Hindemith in Berlin, revived the practice of evening concerts of sacred works. Such concerts, collectively called Abendmusik, had been regularly given by his predecessors at the church, notably Dietrich Buxtehude and Franz Tunder; but they had ceased in 1810, mainly due to the dislocation caused to northern Germany by the Napoleonic wars.

Kraft made numerous commercial recordings (primarily for the Vox label) during the LP era, most of which have been reissued on compact disc and as mp3s. As well as recording Handel's 12 organ concertos, he was among the first to commit to disc the entire solo organ music (or what was believed to be at the time) of Bach and Buxtehude.

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