Frescobaldi, 2018

Published: September 16, 2018

September 17, 2018.  Looking back.  After the wondrous constellation we had last week, this one looks lacking (hopefully our British readers will forgive us Girolamo Frescobaldifor our lack of enthusiasm regarding Gustav Holst), so we’ll turn to some of the names we had previously only mentioned in passing.     One of the most interesting is, without a doubt, Girolamo Frescobaldi (you can read about him here, for example).  Frescobaldi was born on September 9th of 1583 in Ferrara, where the active patronage of the Duke Alfonso II created a veritable mecca for musicians.  Luzzasco Luzzaschi, a fine composer, was the court organist (and, for a while, Frescobaldi’s teacher), Monteverdi spent several years there, and so did Orlando di Lasso, Carlo Gesualdo and many others.  In 1597 Duke Alfonso died, and soon after Ferrara reverted to the papacy; most of the local musicians left for Rome, Frescobaldi among them.  For a while he worked as the church organist at Santa Maria in Trastevere, but in 1607 the papal nuncio took him to Flanders.  The trip made him known to the public outside of Italy; he also published several new compositions (a volume of madrigals) in Brussels.  In July of 1608 Fescobaldi returned to Rome and was made the organist at the important Capella Julia, which performed at the St. Peter’s basilica.  He stayed in Rome for the next seven years.  As the organist, he wasn’t paid much, so Frescobaldi supplemented his income by teaching and performing in noble houses.  Sometime around 1611 he entered the service of Pietro Aldobrandini, a cardinal and a patron of the arts, who was a nephew of Pope Clement VIII and the owner of the magnificent Palazzo Doria Pamphilj.  Frescobaldi remained in Aldobrandini’s service till the cardinal’s death in 1621. 

In 1615 Frescobaldi, being offered a large salary by the duke of Mantua, left the Capella Julia and moved to Mantua.  The Duke Ferdinando Gonzaga seems to have liked Frescobaldi’s music, but the rest of the court ignored him, and two months later Frescobaldi decided to return to Rome.  There he continued his service at the Aldobrandini household, playing the organ in different Roman churches, and composing.  Many of his most important works were written during this period, among them the Capricci and the Second Book of Toccatas, which, in addition to toccatas, included other pieces, such as Canzonas, Gagliardas and other dances, and Magnificats.  One of these pieces was a beautiful Passagiato 'Ancidetimi Pur', based on Ancidetemi pur grievi martiri by the Franco-Flemish composer Jacob Arcadelt.  Here it is, performed on a harpsichord by Richard Lester.  And here is a Toccata from the same Book II, Toccata Nona.  This one is played by the harpsichordist Keith Hill.

Classical
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