Dietrich Buxtehude (c. 1637–1707) is one of the major figures of Northern European Baroque music and one of the greatest organ composers before Johann Sebastian Bach. His deeply expressive and inventive work bridges the gap between the German tradition of the 17th century and the Baroque heyday of the following century.

Born around 1637, probably in Helsingborg (then Danish territory) or Elsinore, Buxtehude grew up in a Lutheran environment strongly influenced by church music. His father was an organist, and Dietrich received a solid education from an early age, particularly in the North German organ tradition, characterized by formal freedom, improvisation, and contrapuntal richness.

In 1668, he was appointed organist at St. Mary's Church in Lübeck, one of the most prestigious positions in northern Germany. He remained there for nearly forty years, making Lübeck a leading musical center. He organized the famous Abendmusiken, public concerts given at the church during Advent, which attracted musicians and listeners from all over Europe.

Buxtehude's work includes preludes and toccatas for organ, often constructed in contrasting sections alternating free passages and fugues, as well as an abundance of sacred vocal music: cantatas, motets, and liturgical works. His music is distinguished by its intense expressiveness, great formal freedom, and profound spirituality.

His influence was considerable. In 1705, the young Johann Sebastian Bach walked more than 400 kilometers to hear and meet Buxtehude in Lübeck—a striking testament to the master's prestige. Although Buxtehude offered Bach the position of his successor, the traditional condition of marrying his daughter dissuaded the composer from staying.

Dietrich Buxtehude died in Lübeck on May 9, 1707. His work represents the pinnacle of German Baroque music and remains an essential source of inspiration for organists and composers. His music combines rigorous counterpoint with free imagination, giving church music a dramatic and spiritual power of rare intensity.

Along his university studies (DEA in musicology, University of Paris IV-Sorbonne), Frédéric Cellier was awarded three first prizes and a development prize at the CNR of Nice and won first prize at the International Competition of Musical Execution - soloist category – of Stresa (Italy).

He is the laureate of the Fondation de France and the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation and accredited teacher at the CNR of Nice, the CNR of Marseille, and at the CRR Olivier Messiaen of Avignon (France).

Frédéric Cellier is the interpreter of Francis Poulenc’s Sonata for clarinet Bb and piano with Jean-Michel Damase, Jean Françaix or Gabriel Tacchino, as well as his own arrangements for clarinet and harp of Erik Satie's Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes with the great French harpist Elizabeth Fontan-Binoche, and for clarinet, piano, and string orchestra of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in blue for Wynton Marsalis or under the baton of Adrian Gershwin, grandson of the composer.

Founder and artistic director of STRADIVARIUS Editions, he is the author of light music pieces played around the world and a considerable number of arrangements of all styles and for all instruments, acclaimed by many personalities in the music world, including Michèle Auric, Jean Françaix, Adrian Gershwin, Wynton Marsalis, Yehudi Menuhin, Madeleine Milhaud, Manuel Rosenthal, Gabriel Tacchino, and Ornella Volta.

"Frédéric Cellier has produced a number of adaptations of Georges Auric's works with such talent and precision that I consider them a natural addition to his chamber music catalogue."
Michèle AURIC - Georges Auric's widow

"To Frédéric Cellier, excellent musician and tireless arranger."
Jean FRANÇAIX - Composer and pianist

"Arranging a musical work is always a delicate and risky exercise, because it requires both modifying it so that it can be played by the desired instruments and preserving its very essence. But that is exactly what Frédéric Cellier has done, preserving the nuances, subtleties and soul of the original works while breathing new life into them.
His arrangements give all the musicians the chance to perform these compositions specially revisited for their instrument, and make music lovers rediscover them in a new light."
Adrian GERSHWIN - George Gershwin’s grandson

"Congratulations for your beautiful new orchestration and rendition of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in blue."
Wynton MARSALIS - Trumpet player, composer, bandleader, general and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York

"It is outstanding that Frédéric Cellier has managed to transpose Saxophone Marmalade from the saxophone to the clarinet. I thank him for it and wish its great and deserved success. "
Manuel ROSENTHAL - Conductor, composer and Maurice Ravel’s pupil

"I am very happy to tell you how much I appreciated your transcription of the Capriccio, based on Francis Poulenc's Le Bal Masqué. It perfectly reflects the spirit and verve of the score for two pianos that I had the opportunity to play and record with Jacques Février, and it was a great pleasure for me to premiere it in Montpellier."
Gabriel TACCHINO - Pianist, Francis Poulenc’s specialist

"I must tell you that I really like your transcriptions and that I think the tone of the instruments you have chosen suits perfectly our beloved composer."
Ornella VOLTA - Musicologist, president of the Erik Satie’s Foundation