Andrea L Aguirre Molina

Dr. Drew Stephen

MUS-3213 Music in Civilization I

March 9, 2016

Presentation Report: Girolamo Frescobaldi

In his biographical article, the musicologist Christine Jeanneret discusses the life of Girolamo

Frescobaldi, born in Ferrara in 1583 and died in 1643, he was considered a prodigious virtuoso as well

as one of the greatest composers for keyboard music in a new style (Jeanneret, par 1). Frescobaldi

succeeded Ercole Pasquini at the organ of St. Peter in Rome in 1608, and retained this position all his

life; although lived in Mantua in 1615 and in Florence from 1628 to 1634. According to the article, he

invented a fertile and creative musical language for keyboard which we can observe in his two books

of Toccate (1615 and 1627). Frescobaldis contrapuntal pieces were copied by significant composers

such as Johann Sebastian and Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach (par 2).

The musicologist Richard Taruskin explains that a lute collection from 1536 contains the earliest

recorded use of the word toccata in a musical source, and it refers to the kind of short improvisatory

prelude. The pieces called toccata achieved greater dimensions and independent status, but they

always remain free and open in form. The main compositional feature is contrast; they rely on the

variation of texture, meter, tempo and tonality between the short sections, rather than the continuous

development of motives. Richard Taruskin states that Frescobaldi inherited the toccata from Claudio

Merulo (15331604) (Taruskin, vol 2).

An example is Toccata no. 3 from the book toccatas for harpsichords (1615), this piece features a

succession of brief sections, each one focused on a particular figure that is varied. Grout et al.

Musicologist Donald Jay Grout states that Each section ends on a cadence, thats weakened
harmonically, rhythmically, or through continued voice movement in order to sustain momentum until

the very end (Grout 343). He also explains that Frescobaldi does have a defined indication of the tempo

and meter in his toccatas, but these elements are not attached to follow a regular beat, but may be

performed different according to the mood or character of the music; actually, Frescobaldi encourage

performers to vary the speed and manner of performance in order to express the changing moods or

affections (344).

Frescobaldi also contributed musically with the first chaconne and passacaglia; some of the

earliest variations on forms of chaconne and passacaglia are Frescobaldis Partite sopra ciaccona and

Partite sopra passacagli. (Published in 1627) (349).

Grout explains that the foundation of the fugues, sonatas, and symphonies move beyond

decoration and diversion to encompass levels of intellectual and expressive communication (350).
 Works Cited

Grout, Donald Jay., J. Peter Burkholder, and Claude V. Palisca. A History of Western Music. 9th ed. New

York: W.W. Norton, 2006. Print

Jeanneret, Christine. "Girolamo Frescobaldi". In Oxford Bibliographies in Music,

http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199757824/obo-9780199757824-

0088.xml (accessed 28-Feb-2016).

Taruskin, Richard. "Chapter 2 Fat Times and Lean." In Music In The Seventeenth And Eighteenth

Centuries, Oxford University Press. (New York, USA, n.d.). Retrieved 28 Feb. 2016, from

http://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com.libweb.lib.utsa.edu/view/Volume2/actrade-9780195384826-div1-

02002.xml