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Early Music Journal

A highly impressive recording project has been realized by Gilbert Rowland and his team. Across three CD sets (each containing two discs) Rowland has recorded 36 suites by Johann Jakob Froberger: Johann Jakob Froberger, vol.1–3 (vol.1: Athene ath23204.1&2, issued 2019; vol.2: Athene ath23209.1&2, issued 2021; vol.3: Athene ath23213.1&2, issued 2023). The CDs expand far beyond the collection memorialized by Guido Adler in his Denkmäler der Tonkunst and introduce the listener to many rarely performed pieces. 

The collection pays tribute to Froberger’s influence on the development of the suite as an instrumental genre. His work was particularly significant in establishing the order of dance movements. The CD sets are a testimony to the development of the movement structure. While the booklet suggests that the most common order was allemande– gigue–courante–sarabande, in fact the most common choice—particularly in the suites with higher FbWV numbers—was allemande–courante–sarabande–gigue. The latter form is also the structure that Johann Sebastian Bach developed for his suites and partitas: an optional opening movement before the allemande, courante and sarabande, followed by a free selection of dances, and closing with a gigue. Several of Froberger’s suites, still experimenting with form, use alternative opening movements to replace the allemande, or omit the gigue (though, in some cases, the autograph of the gigue may have simply been lost). 

Justifying the choice of instrument in the recording, and determining that the suites would ‘almost certainly have been performed on the harpsichord’, the liner notes echoe the long-held view of Guido Adler. In his preface to the Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich Jahrg. VI/2—Vol.13 (Vienna, 1899), Adler conceded that during Froberger’s time, performers still used keyboard instruments interchangeably, or would substitute individual voices of a polyphonic piece with chamber or orchestral instruments. However, Froberger’s suites, according to Adler, are ‘true’ Clavier compositions that can only be played on that particular instrument. It was precisely this restriction, in his eyes, that made Froberger a true master of his craft. 

Rowland performs the suites with great attention to detail, and with very tasteful and artistically refined ornamentations, taking care to vary repetitions of any given section. The suite in G major FbWV 606 performed within volume 1, which is highly enjoyable, is less of a traditional suite in the formal sense. Rather, it is a set of variations ‘Auff die Maÿerin’. Comparable, perhaps, to Muzio Clementi’s variations on the Black Joke, Froberger’s beautifully refined rendition of the Maÿerin belies the rather uncouth lyrics of the original song. The Maÿerin was a popular song at the time, also known under the title Hylas will kein Weib nicht haben; it can be found in Seladons Weltliche Lieder, published in Frankfurt in 1651. The subtitle of the collection, ‘nechst einem Anhang Schimpff und Ernsthaffter Gedichte’, informs the reader that the volume contains an appendix of poems both serious and bawdy. The song, in keeping with the tone of the latter, glorifies being a bachelor and not wishing to take a wife. The majority of verses point out how expensive it would be to get married and support a family. There is also no shortage of negative stereotypes about how demanding women are and how much easier life is when courting and intimacy do not evolve into anything more serious. The suite begins with six variations on the Maÿerin theme (or, an ‘air & 5 Variations’, as it is called here). The last two variations form a beautiful contrast. After several creative reconfigurations of the theme, the penultimate variation reintroduces the original clearly in the upper voice; the melody is accompanied by a single voice in the left hand, consisting of many runs and scale-segments. The simplicity of the variations is only fleeting and creates an even starker contrast once the last variation begins. The final setting of the Maÿerin in this movement is a highly chromatic rendition that completely distorts and disguises the theme. The only familiar element is the bass line, which provides a solid foundation for Froberger’s harmonic adventures.