Johann Jakob Froberger | Divine Art Recordings

English harpsichordist Gilbert Rowland is preparing the fourth volume in his ongoing series presenting the complete Suites for Harpsichord by Johann Jakob Froberger. The album is to be recorded at Holy Trinity Church, Weston, Hertfordshire in July 2024, with engineer John Taylor who produced all of Gilbert’s previous Divine Art and Athene recordings. Earlier volumes have attracted much praise:

“A glorious sound and enjoyable music recorded in a resonant acoustic, giving a truly luscious sound. Rowland plays with energy and a good forward drive.” —David Griffel (Harpsichord & Fortepiano) on volume. 1

“One of the finest recordings of Froberger’s harpsichord music I have heard, with a wonderful-sounding instrument and magnificent playing from Rowland.” —Stuart Sillitoe (MusicWeb International) on volume 1

“Froberger’s music is individual in nature and ground-breaking – he was one of the first composers to settle the ‘dance-movement’ style. These are thrilling and authoritative recordings by Gilbert Rowland of wonderful music.” —John Pitt (New Classics) on volume 2

“Froberger’s music – in this splendid rendition by Gilbert Rowland – reveals huge variety and baroque beauty. Clever, ingenious and melodious engaging and attractive works.” —Stuart Millson (Quarterly Review) on volume 2

“Impeccably noble performance… first-class engineering… an indispensible addition to fine recordings of early music.” – Rafael de Acha (All about the Arts)

Johann Jakob Froberger (1616-1667) was a highly accomplished composer of the middle baroque and is usually credited with inventing the ‘baroque suite’ used with variations by Bach, Handel and countless other composers; certainly it was his idea to set the ‘backbone’ of the Suite as the four dance movements of allemande, courante, sarabande and gigue. He was extremely prolific and indeed several works (including Harpsichord Suites) have been discovered only recently.

Gilbert Rowland first studied the harpsichord with Millicent Silver. Whilst still a student at the Royal College of Music, he made his debut at Fenton House 1970 and first appeared at the Wigmore Hall in 1973.

His mentors have included Kenneth Gilbert and Fernando Valenti. Recitals at the Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room, appearances at major festivals in this country and abroad, together with broadcasts for Capital Radio and Radio 3 have helped to establish his reputation as one of Britain’s leading harpsichordists.

His numerous records of works by Scarlatti, Soler, Rameau and Fischer have received considerable acclaim from the national press. The recording of the 13-CD set of Soler sonatas with Naxos was completed in 2006. He also recorded a CD of Sonatas by Albero for London Independent Records, which was released in 2009. He joined Divine Art in 2010 to record the harpsichord suites by Handel, followed by those of Froberger and Mattheson. Gilbert Rowland is assigned to Divine Art’s specialist early music label, Athene.