Synopses & Reviews
Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643) occupies a special place in the history of music as the first significant European composer who concentrated his major creative efforts in the realm of instrumental music. In this collection of papers based on the Quadricentennial Frescobaldi Studies Conference (1983), sixteen American and European specialists examine important aspects of the live and works of this composer and of his role in the creation of the new musical language of the Baroque. Among the topics receiving special attention are the musician's material, social and artistic dependence on his powerful patrons and the not always happy consequences of such relationships--even for celebrated artists like Frescobaldi. Other chapters approach facets of his music through an exploration of relatively little known contemporary intellectual and artistic trends. His musical ancestry in the compositional traditions of North Italian centers such as Venice and Ferrara is clarified for the first time, and his impact on subsequent generations of composers is traced well into the nineteenth century. The final part of the volume is devoted to performance issues, including the liturgical place of the organ in seventeenth-century Italy and the vexing problem of tempo relationships. This volume includes transcriptions of several newly discovered documents, as well as a generous selection of musical examples--many published here for the first time.
Synopsis
Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583–1643) occupies a special place in the history of music as the first significant European composer who concentrated his major creative efforts into the realm of instrumental music. In this collection of papers based on the Quadricentennial Frescobaldi Studies Conference, sixteen American and European specialists examine important aspects of the life and works of this composer and of his role in the creation of a new musical language of the Baroque.