Johann Jacob Froberger: Strasbourg Manuscript

Johann Jacob Froberger (Composer), Ludger Remy (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Ludger Remy
• Composer: Johann Jacob Froberger
• Audio CD (October 17, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Cpo Records
• ASIN: B00004Z3ZQ
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #361,690 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

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

See all 28 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

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

See all 27 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

From International Record Review - subscribe now

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Charateristic of Frobergers music!, January 2, 2005

By 

craig "craig" (Quebec Ca) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Johann Jacob Froberger: Strasbourg Manuscript (Audio CD)

Anyone who has ever heard Frobergers music might be familiar with its particularily sombre tinge.this is why I choosed this one as my paragon of Frobergers music.here Mr LUDGER plays authentically and sumptuously on a very fine instrument which I personally consider as very appropriate for Frobergers music !A must for all early music fans!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, June 24, 2010

By 

R. Folk - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Johann Jacob Froberger: Strasbourg Manuscript (Audio CD)

This is an excellent CD, and I was glad to add it to my collection. Froberger's music is very rhythmically and harmonically complex, especially for the period. I've had people tell me it sounds modernist. It certainly makes liberal use of dissonance, interesting rhythmic devices, and ornamentation in the French style, but it is always elegant as well. For me, the sarabandes and especially the allemandes are favorites. The suites are all in the same style, 4 movements beginning with an expressive allemande that serves like the Ouverture of later baroque suites. Most are dark and decidedly minor key. The playing is excellent as well; very clear acoustics and tasteful renditions without excess but certainly indulging in the music.