Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643) - Keyboard Works in Manuscripts
«Il Signor Girolamo has produced an infinite number of other volumes and is constantly gathering new ones ; he is actually excellent in composition as well as in improvisation, as Rome sees every day ; but the effort and expense of prints do not allow these works to be published»
Bartolomeo Grassi, preface to Canzoni da Sonare by Girolamo Frescobaldi, Rome, 1628
Frescobaldi was a leading figure in organ and harpsichord music between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. He became famous during his lifetime thanks to publications as the two books of Toccate (1627 and 1637), the Capricci (1624) and the Fiori Musicali (1635) - however, if we take into account testimonies such as the publisher Bartolomeo Grassi, a lot of manuscripts with his music were circulating in Rome and beyond. These manuscript pieces, even more than the printed ones, reflect the daily practice of keyboard playing and improvisation by Italian organists in the 17th century. Many pieces can be found today on the shelves of libraries all around the world : some are autographs (Ms. Chigi 29, Ms. Paris), some were copied in the composer’s circle in Rome like Nicolò Borbone (Ms. Chigi 25), other volumes are kept in Turin, Munich and New York, sometimes in private collections.
This fascinating repertoire has been examinated by several musicologists from the 1980s but has been little recorded, due to the lack of availability of sources. A critical edition of all manuscript pieces was published in 2018 by the musicologists Etienne Darbellay (Geneva University) and Constance Frei (Lausanne University) by the publisher Suvini Zerboni and served as a basis to prepare the recording’s programme.
The CD will include several previously unreleased works. This can be an oportunity for music lovers, researchers and teachers, to hear for the first time pieces that have been forgotten since four centuries.
Programme - instruments - recording
from sources like : Chigi Q.25, 29, 205-206, Torino Giordano 1, Torino Foà 6, London 23623, Ravenna 545, Garofalo, Bodmer…
The instruments used are the Formentelli/Tricoteaux organ of the church of Saint-François in Lausanne (a part of Organopole, a wide project promoving organ music in the city) and an Italian harpsichord after seventeenth-century models by Matthias Griewisch.
The recording took place in two sessions, 22-25 July 2021 in Lausanne and 23-26 August 2021 in Haltingen (DE) on the harpsichord. Sound engineer : Marie Delorme.
Fundraising
A fundraising is essential in order to cover several costs which are dependent on the artist
- recording and editing (by Marie Delorme)
- harpsichord tuning and maintenance (by Nadja Lesaulnier)
- production and distribution (by CLAVES)
How to participate ?
- by donating a free amount or choosing among the options (purchase of CDs or concerts). Every donation, even a small one, will be very useful.
- by spreading this campaign as much as possible around you !