Frescobaldi, Girolamo

Frescobaldi, Girolamo

(jērô`lämō frāskōbäl`dē), 1583–1643, Italian organist and composer. He became organist at St. Peter's in Rome in 1608, where huge crowds came during most of his life to hear him play and improvise. From 1628 to 1634 he was organist at the court of the Medici in Florence. Through his pupil Johann FrobergerFroberger, Johann Jakob
, 1616–67, German organist and composer; pupil of Frescobaldi. His style influenced German keyboard music during the baroque era. He is best known for his suites for harpsichord or clavichord suites.
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, who carried his style to Germany, Frescobaldi's "noble" style and technique of improvisation influenced German organ style through the time of J. S. Bach. Besides numerous works for organ, he wrote some instrumental and vocal music.

Frescobaldi, Girolamo

 

Baptized circa Sept. 19, 1583, in Ferrara; died Mar. 1, 1643, in Rome. Italian composer and organist.

Frescobaldi, who gave concerts in various countries of Europe, was appointed organist at St. Peter’s in Rome in 1608. He composed numerous works for organ (fantasies, toccatas, canzoni, and ricercari), harpsichord (preludes, fugues, and partitas), and voice. Frescobaldi enriched the organ repertoire and laid the foundations for free polyphony by defining a new approach to the use of melody and developing the fugue. The founder of the Italian school of the organ, he was later referred to as the Italian Bach. Frescobaldi, whose students included the German organist J. J. Froberger, influenced succeeding generations of organists.

REFERENCES

Druskin, M. Klavirnaia muzyka. Leningrad, 1960.
Berenzi, A. Per G. Frescobaldi nel terzo centenario. Cremona, 1908.
Machabey, A. Frescobaldi Ferrarensis (1583–1643). Paris, 1952.

I. A. MEDVEDEVA