Johann Jacob Froberger (1616-1667) was the leading German keyboard composer
of the mid-1600's.  He was the first German to compose harpsichord suites
of the dance variety.  Froberger studied with Frescobaldi and was a friend
to Louis Couperin; these assocations likely provided an incentive to
Froberger to try his hand at writing dance suites.

Froberger has not been performed or recorded regularly, as his keyboard
music has been superceded in the public's affection by Bach's keyboard
works.  However, the CD age has been fairly good to Froberger; quite a
few current artists have recorded his keyboard music including Gustav
Leonhardt, Davitt Moroney, Shirley Matthews, and Blandine Verlet.

One of the most recent recordings comes from CPO, a 2-disc set of
Froberger's suites from the Strasbourg Manuscript performed by Ludger
Remy who has become a fine veteran of baroque music as a performer and
conductor.  The catalog number is 999 750-2.

The Strasbourg Manuscript was compiled and arranged by a Michael Bulyowsky
in the late 1600's.  I should note that Froberger never had any work
published; he reportedly felt that nobody who had not heard his music
could possibly do it justice.  At any rate, Bulyowsky's Manuscript contains
fourteen suites by Froberger along with works from other composers.  Suite
No.  14's authorship is unclear, but Remy does include it.  Ten of the
Suites are in minor keys, and that is not surprising considering that
Froberger was known as a melancholy man who took life's negative events
very hard and saw bad omens in positive events as well.  He was my kind
of guy.

Are these works any good? Most certainly.  The slow movements are
particularly rewarding; they are noble, contemplative, highly danceable,
thoroughly enjoyable, and possess fantasia-like properties.  Ludger
Remy is an excellent proponent with a flair for Froberger's idiom.  His
harpsichord, built by Martin Skowroneck in 1992 after a Franco-Flemish
model, sounds wonderfully rich and crisp.  The liner notes are very
enlightening although they can verge on being pretentious.  Cover art is
comforting and majestic; it fits the music very well.  Perhaps best of all,
this 2-cd set has over 2 hours of music and retails for less than the cost
of one premium priced disc.

Don's Conclusions:  Although not an essential acquisition, I believe that
serious collectors of baroque harpsichord music would be very pleased with
the set.  Others just have to sample the first track, a stately and slow
Allemande of fantasia characteristics.  If you don't care for that track,
you will not like the set at all.  BUT, I think that most folks will find
it very rewarding.  CDNOW has many samples on its web site; check them out.
Personally, I consider the Remy recording one of my better purchases over
the past year.

Don Satz
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