Froberger: Suites for Harpsichord, volume 3
English harpsichordist Gilbert Rowland has completed the third volume in his ongoing series of the complete Suites for Harpsichord by Johann Jakob Froberger. The album was recorded at Holy Trinity Church, Weston, Hertfordshire on 11-14 July 2022, with engineer John Taylor who produced all of Gilbert’s previous Divine Art and Athene recordings. The first two volumes of the series had attracted much praise from critics for its “glorious sound” and “energy and a good forward drive” of Rowland’s playing.
Johann Jakob Froberger was a highly accomplished composer of the middle Baroque period and credited with inventing the ‘baroque suite’ used with variations by Bach, Handel and countless other composers. He was extremely prolific and several of his works, including many of the Harpsichord Suites, have been discovered recently.
Gilbert Rowland first studied the harpsichord with Millicent Silver and made his debut at Fenton House in 1970 and first appeared at the Wigmore Hall in 1973. He made numerous recordings of works by Scarlatti, Soler, Rameau and Fischer which received considerable acclaim from the national press. He joined Divine Art in 2010 to record the harpsichord suites by Handel, followed by those of Froberger and Mattheson and was assigned to Divine Art’s specialist early music label, Athene.
Track Listing
- Suite in A minor, FbWV 630 - I. Plainte faite a Londres pour passer la Melancholie..(3:57)
- Suite in A minor, FbWV 630 - II. Gigue (1:16)
- Suite in A minor, FbWV 630 - III. Courante (1:35)
- Suite in A minor, FbWV 630 - IV. Sarabande (3:41)
- Suite in F major, FbWV 617 - I. Allemande (3:16)
- Suite in F major, FbWV 617 - II. Gigue (1:59)
- Suite in F major, FbWV 617 - III. Courante (1:37)
- Suite in F major, FbWV 617 - IV. Sarabande (2:57)
- Suite in A major, FbWV 638 - I. Allemand and Double (3:57)
- Suite in A major, FbWV 638 - II. Courant and Double (3:06)
- Suite in A major, FbWV 638 - III. Saraband and Double (3:26)
- Suite in A major, FbWV 638 - IV. Gigue (1:38)
- Suite in F sharp minor, FbWV 646 - I. Allemande (2:30)
- Suite in F sharp minor, FbWV 646 - II. Courant (1:44)
- Suite in F sharp minor, FbWV 646 - III. Saraband (1:54)
- Suite in F sharp minor, FbWV 646 - IV. Gique (1:31)
- Suite in E flat major, FbWV 654 - I. Allemande (2:18)
- Suite in E flat major, FbWV 654 - II. Courante (1:30)
- Suite in E flat major, FbWV 654 - III. Sarabande and Double (3:19)
- Suite in E flat major, FbWV 654 - IV. Gique (1:25)
- Suite in E minor, FbWV 651 - I. Allemande (3:21)
- Suite in E minor, FbWV 651 - II. Courant (2:14)
- Suite in E minor, FbWV 651 - III. Saraband and Double (3:54)
- Suite in E minor, FbWV 651 - IV. Gigue (3:23)
- Suite in A minor, FbWV 601 - I. Allemand (2:56)
- Suite in A minor, FbWV 601 - II. Courant (1:25)
- Suite in A minor, FbWV 601 - III. Saraband (2:44)
- Suite in D major, FbWV 624 - I. Allemande and Double (4:30)
- Suite in D major, FbWV 624 - II. Courante and Double (3:19)
- Suite in D major, FbWV 624 - III. Sarabande and Double (3:33)
- Suite in G minor, FbWV 609 - I. Allemande (3:55)
- Suite in G minor, FbWV 609 - II. Gigue (1:52)
- Suite in G minor, FbWV 609 - III. Courante (1:59)
- Suite in G minor, FbWV 609 - IV. Sarabande (2:56)
- Suite in E minor, FbWV 623 - I. Allemande and Double (4:44)
- Suite in E minor, FbWV 623 - II. Courante and Double (3:16)
- Suite in E minor, FbWV 623 - III. Sarabande and Double (3:31)
- Suite in B minor, FbWV 652 - I. Allemanda (2:43)
- Suite in B minor, FbWV 652 - II. Courante (1:46)
- Suite in B minor, FbWV 652 - III. Saraband and Duble (3:51)
- Suite in E major, FbWV 656 - I. Allemande (2:20)
- Suite in E major, FbWV 656 - II. Courante (1:41)
- Suite in E major, FbWV 656 - III. Sarabande and Double (3:52)
- Suite in E major, FbWV 656 - IV. Gique (1:33)
Johann Jakob Froberger (1616-1667):
Reviews
“A highly impressive recording project has been realized by Gilbert Rowland and his team. Rowland performs the suites with great attention to detail, and…very tasteful and artistically…
” —Judith Valerie Engel
“Impeccable clarity, flawless articulation, and period perfect embellishments…both the impeccably noble performance of Gilbert Rowland and the first-class engineering of John Taylor have created an indispensable addition to the libraries of collectors of fine recordings of early music.
” —Rafael de Acha
