Johann Jacob Froberger: Strasbourg Manuscript

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This is a veritable feast of Froberger's music. A two-disc set, consisting of 14 suites for harpsichord, taken from a variety of sources (two from the 1649 manuscript and one from that of 1656), and all owing their provenance to the Strasbourg manuscript of 1675, transcribed by the Slovak Michael Bulyowsky. This recently discovered document clinches Froberger's place – as a synthesizing composer, working in German-speaking Europe – and harnessing the formalities of the Teutonic, with the elaborations of the Italianate and the lilting freedoms of the French, with more than a nod to Frescobaldi and Couperin. Froberger is a cameo Telemann, but with none of the worldly energy and entrepreneurial skills of the latter. With only one hexachord fantasia published during his lifetime, Froberger had no interest in the publication of his works, concerned more with the way they were performed than about their dissemination.

Ludger Rémy is a careful researcher, as well as a poised interpreter, and his account of Froberger's music accedes to both these categories. The courantes are fluid and lilting, with an easy inégal, the gigues (placed by Froberger mostly in second position in the suites) with a Scarlatti-like elegance (Suite No. 9 in D), the sarabandes with a sombre resonance (Suite No. 10 in E minor) and the allemandes, which open most of the suites, presented as courtly overtures. Suite No. 5 in G minor, the ‘Allemande faite al'honneur de Madame Sybille Duchesse de Wirtemberg', heralds a grande entrance for the music, hinting at a scarcely contained theatricality which presages the end of the century's immersion in the dramatic music of Lully and Rameau. This suite demonstrates in miniature Froberger's range and variety, and allows Rémy to explore his own disciplined range: a running inégal Courante gives way to an extravagant, spreading Sarabande to match the suite's grand opening.

In an earlier Sarabande (Suite No. 2 in D minor) Froberger's evocative music strains wordlessly towards the possibility of another kind of drama. The style brisé, derived from lute techniques, leads into an aria-like strain which cries out for words. Rémy adds subtle ornaments on the repeats, still leaving the original music to sing for itself.

Rémy's care with the music shows respect, perhaps, rather than bubbling enthusiasm, and this, of course, is a comment on his interpretative approach rather than a criticism. Now and again he is drawn into something beyond the merely loving – in Suite No. 8 in G, the opening Allemande takes him through an extended inégal into a slow, downwardly plummeting scale, building the harmony a single note at a time. His touch is just right, his contemplative mood retaining the drive towards the overlapping phrases and cadences. The Strasbourg Manuscript, incidentally, is currently being prepared for publication.

Michelene Wandor

Johann Jacob Froberger: Strasbourg Manuscript, Music, Johann Jacob Froberger, Ludger Remy, Chamber Music & Recitals, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Keyboard, Suite/Partita for Keyboard

Average customer rating: Very Charateristic of Frobergers music!

Johann Jacob Froberger: Strasbourg Manuscript Manufacturer: Cpo Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Similar Items: Johann Jacob Froberger: Toccatas and Partitas Musik Fur Streichinstrumente Osvaldo Golijov: Ainadamar ASIN: B00004Z3ZQ Release Date: 2000-10-17

Tracks:

1. Ste XII in a: Allemande
2. Ste XII in a: Gigue
3. Ste XII in a: Courante
4. Ste XII in a: Sarabande
5. Ste III in e: Allemande Nommee Wasserfall
6. Ste III in e: Gigue
7. Ste III in e: Courante
8. Ste III in e: Sarabande
9. Ste II in d: Allemande
10. Ste II in d: Courante
11. Ste II in d: Sarabande - Ludger Remy L
12. Ste II in d: Gigue
13. Ste V in g: Allemande Faite A L'Honneur De Madame Sibylle Duchesse De Wirtemberg
14. Ste V in g: Gigue Nomee La Philotte - Ludger Remy L
15. Ste V in g: Courante
16. Ste V in g: Sarabande
17. Ste XI in a: Allemande
18. Ste XI in a: Gigue
19. Ste XI in a: Courante
20. Ste XI in a: Sarabande
21. Ste IV in F: Allemande
22. Ste IV in F: Gigue
23. Ste IV in F: Courante
24. Ste IV in F: Sarabande
25. Ste VI in a: Allemade/Le Double
26. Ste VI in a: Courante/Le Double
27. Ste VI in a: Sarabande/Le Double
28. Ste VI in a: Gigue

Tracks:

1. Ste IX in D: Allemande
2. Ste IX in D: Gigue
3. Ste IX in D: Courante
4. Ste IX in D: Sarabande
5. Ste I in c: Allemande
6. Ste I in c: Gigue
7. Ste I in c: Courante
8. Ste I in c: Sarabande
9. Ste VIII in d: Allemande
10. Ste VIII in d: Gigue
11. Ste VIII in d: Courante
12. Ste VIII in d: Sarabande
13. Ste VII in g: Lamento. Adagio Con Discretione
14. Ste VII in g: Courante
15. Ste VII in g: Sarabande
16. Ste VII in g: Gigue
17. Ste VIII in G: Allemande Repraesentans Monticidium Frobergeri
18. Ste VIII in G: Gigue
19. Ste VIII in G: Courante
20. Ste VIII in G: Sarabande
21. Ste X in e: Allemande/Le Double
22. Ste X in e: Courante
23. Ste X in e: Sarabande/Le Double
24. Ste X in e: Gigue
25. Ste XIV in A: Allemande/Le Double
26. Ste XIV in A: Courante/Le Double
27. Ste XIV in A: Sarabande - Ludger Remy L

Customer Reviews:

Very Charateristic of Frobergers music!.......2005-01-02

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