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German Baroque composer, keyboard virtuoso and organist

Johann Jakob Froberger (baptized 19 May 1616 – 7 May 1667) was a German Baroque composer, keyboard virtuoso, and organist. Among the most famous composers of the era, he was influential in developing the musical form of the suite of dances in his keyboard works. His harpsichord pieces are highly idiomatic and programmatic. Only two of Froberger's many compositions were published during his lifetime. Froberger forbade publication of his manuscripts, restricting access to his noble patrons and friends, particularly the Württembergs and Habsburgs who had the power to enforce these restrictions. After his death the manuscripts went to his patroness Sibylla, Duchess of Württemberg (1620–1707) and the music library of the Württemberg family estate.

Johann Jakob Froberger was baptized on 19 May 1616 in Stuttgart. The exact date of his birth is unknown. His family came from Halle, where his grandfather Simon lived and his father Basilius (1575–1637) was born. In 1599 Basilius moved to Stuttgart and became a tenor in the Württemberg court chapel. At some point before 1605 he married Anna Schmid (1577–1637), who came from a Schwabian family living in Stuttgart. By the time Johann Jakob was born, his father's career was already flourishing, and in 1621 Basilius became court Kapellmeister. Of his eleven children with Anna, four became musicians (Johann Jakob, Johann Christoph, Johann Georg and Isaac; all but Johann Jakob served at the Württemberg court in Stuttgart), and so it is likely that Johann Jakob received his first music lessons from his father. Although the Thirty Years' War which started in 1618 undoubtedly made life in Stuttgart somewhat more difficult, the city's musical life was rich and varied, influenced by musicians from all over Europe, so already at the very beginning of his life Froberger must have been exposed to a wide variety of musical traditions. Little is known about his actual education, though. His teachers possibly included Johann Ulrich Steigleder, and he might have met Samuel Scheidt during the latter's visit to Stuttgart in 1627; it is possible that Froberger sang in the court chapel, but there is no direct evidence to that; and court archives indicate that one of the English lutenists employed by the court, Andrew Borell, taught lute to one of Basilius Froberger's sons in 1621–22 Samuel Scheidt and Michael Praetorius, as well as pieces by the lesser known Johann Staden, founder of the Nuremberg school, and Giovanni Valentini, the then famous Viennese Kapellmeister who later taught Johann Kaspar Kerll.

The Hofkapelle Stuttgart was disbanded in 1634 in the wake of the Protestants' defeat in the Battle of Nördlingen. In Grundlage einer Ehrenpforte (1740) Mattheson writes that a certain Swedish ambassador was so impressed with Froberger's musical skills that he took the 18 year old musician to Vienna and presumably recommended him to the imperial court. This seems unlikely, however, because at the time Sweden was allied with Lutheran Württemberg against the imperial forces; so exactly why Froberger left for Vienna at around 1634 and how he managed to find employment as a singer in the imperial chapel, remains a mystery. In 1637 Basilius Froberger, his wife and one of his daughters died of plague. Johann Jakob and his brother Isaac sold their father's music library to the Württemberg court (this is how the contents of Basilius' library became known – through the court archives); the same year Johann Jakob became court organist in Vienna, assisting Wolfgang Ebner. In June he was granted a leave and a stipend to go to Rome to study under Frescobaldi. Froberger spent the next three years in Italy and, like many other musicians who went to study there, apparently converted to Catholicism. He returned to Vienna in 1641 and served as organist and chamber musician until the fall of 1645, when he took a second trip to Italy. It was previously thought that Froberger went to study under Giacomo Carissimi, but recent research shows that he most probably studied with Athanasius Kircher in Rome. If so, Froberger's intention must have been acquiring mastery of vocal composition of the prima pratica (Frescobaldi, who taught him instrumental writing, died in 1643). Sometime during 1648–49 Froberger might have met Johann Kaspar Kerll, and possibly taught him. In 1649 Froberger travelled back to Austria. On his way back he stopped in Florence and Mantua to show the arca musurgica, a powerful compositional device Kircher taught him, to some of the Italian princes. In September he arrived in Vienna and demonstrated the arca musurgica to the Emperor, an avid amateur musician; he also presented him with Libro Secondo, a collection of his own compositions (the Libro Primo is now lost). Also in September, Froberger played before William Swann, an English diplomat. his death left a mark on the history of music, as Couperin, Gaultier, Dufaut and Froberger all wrote tombeaux lamenting the event.

In 1653 Froberger passed through Heidelberg, Nuremberg and Regensburg before returning to Vienna in April. He remained with the Viennese court during the next four years, producing at least one more collection of music, the Libro Quarto of 1656 (Libro Terzo is now lost). Froberger was apparently deeply saddened by Emperor Ferdinand III's death on 2 April 1657 and wrote a lamentation dedicated to the memory of the Emperor. His relationship with Ferdinand's successor, Leopold I, was strained for a number of political reasons (numerous forces were opposed to Leopold's election, and among them were the Jesuit order and Johann Philipp von Schönborn, Elector Archbishop of Mainz; Froberger's mentor and friend Kircher was an important figure in the former, and Froberger had strong ties with the court of the latter. Three toccatas in Ms. Chigi Q. IV.25 very likely are early Froberger compositions while he studied with Frescobaldi, as Bob van Asperen has argued in 2009. Other than these, numerous manuscripts of various origin contain Froberger's music. These include the well known Bauyn manuscript, and a very large number of less known sources, some reliable (such as the only unbowdlerized text for Méditation sur ma mort future, presumably in Weckmann's hand, or the Strasbourg manuscript of some couple of dozen of suites, possibly compiled by Michael Bulyowsky) and some not very much so. Problems arise with many of the newly discovered copies: either Froberger was constantly reworking his compositions, or the scribes were not attentive enough, but many works exist in several variants, some of which even have whole movements changed. Two standard numbering systems are used to identify Froberger's works. These are:
the numbers used in the early 20th century Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich series and the Guido Adler edition; commonly referred to as the DTÖ numbers or the Adler numbers. This catalogue has separate numbering for different genres, with pieces identified as Toccata No. 4, Ricercare No. 2, Suite No. 20, etc. The DTÖ contains a few compositions falsely attributed to Froberger, and some identical ones. FbWV numbers from the Siegbert Rampe catalogue compiled in the early 1990s. Rampe's catalogue is more complete and includes newly discovered pieces as well as pieces whose authorship is questioned. The Adler numbers are incorporated, for example all Toccatas are numbered 1xx, hence Adler Toccata No. 1 has the Rampe number FbWV 101. For more information, see List of compositions by Johann Jakob Froberger.

The rest of Froberger's keyboard works may be performed on any keyboard instrument, including the organ. The toccatas are the only ones to employ free writing to some degree; the majority are strictly polyphonic. In terms of organisation, Froberger's toccatas are reminiscent of those by Michelangelo Rossi, also a student of Frescobaldi; instead of being composed of numerous brief parts, they feature a few tightly woven sections, alternating between strict polyphony and free, improvisational passages. They are usually of moderate length and the harmonic content is not dissimilar to Frescobaldi's, although Froberger's harmony favors softer, more pleasing turns (not without some notable exceptions, particularly in the two Da sonarsi alla Levatione works), and his toccatas are always more focused on the original tonality, unlike those by either Frescobaldi or Rossi. The fugal sections are present in most toccatas and are quasi imitative and are not as strict as later 17th century fugues; when a toccata features several fugal inserts, a single motif may be used for all of them, varied rhythmically. Whereas in Frescobaldi's oeuvre the fantasia and the ricercare are markedly different genres (the fantasia being a relatively simple contrapuntal composition that expands, as it progresses, into a flurry of intense, rhythmically complex counterpoint; the ricercare being essentially a very strict contrapuntal piece with easily audible lines and somewhat archaic in terms of structure), Froberger's are practically similar. A typical Froberger ricercare or fantasia uses a single subject (with different rhythmic variations for different sections) throughout the whole piece, and the counterpoint adheres almost flawlessly to the 16th century prima pratica. Any of the standard contrapuntal devices may be used; the main subject is sometimes paired with another theme for a section or two, and there is usually a marked contrast between sections and much variety inside a single piece. Froberger's canzonas and capriccios are similarly conservative in terms of technique, and they too are essentially the same even though Frescobaldi distinguished between the genres. Froberger follows Frescobaldi's example in constructing these pieces as variation sets in several sections (usually three in canzonas and any number – as many as six – in capriccios). The subjects are always faster, much more lively that those of ricercares and fantasias. A characteristic feature is the economy of themes: the episodes, which are somewhat rare, are almost invariably based on the material from the subject, somewhat like those in JS Bach's work some 60–70 years later. The counterpoint and harmony are very similar to the ricercares and fantasias; however, occasionally scale degrees other than 1 and 5 are used.

The only surviving non keyboard works by Froberger are two motets, Alleluia! Absorpta es mors and Apparuerunt apostolis. They are found in the so called Düben collection, compiled by Gustaf Düben, a famous Swedish collector and composer. The manuscript is kept in the Uppsala University library. These motets are quite similar in style: both are scored for a three voice (STB) choir, two violins and organ (which is given a single melodic line, not polyphony, as was common in Italian motets of the time), and cast in the early 17th century Venetian stile concertante, in marked contrast with Froberger's preference for older techniques in his polyphonic keyboard works. Another connection to contemporary practice is that the small ensemble is almost identical to one used by Heinrich Schütz in the second volume of Symphoniae sacrae published in 1647.

Although only two of Froberger's works were published during his lifetime, his music was widely spread in Europe in hand written copies, and he was one of the most famous composers of the era (although he studied in Italy and obviously had friends and former mentors there, no Italian sources of his music were found). Because of his travels and his ability to absorb various national styles and incorporate them into his music, Froberger, along with other cosmopolitan composers such as Johann Kaspar Kerll and Georg Muffat, contributed greatly to the exchange of musical traditions in Europe. Finally, he was among the first major keyboard composers in history and the first to focus equally on both harpsichord/clavichord and organ. Froberger's compositions were known to and studied by, among many others, Johann Pachelbel, Dieterich Buxtehude, Georg Muffat and his son Gottlieb Muffat, Johann Caspar Kerll, Matthias Weckmann, Louis Couperin, Johann Kirnberger, Johann Nikolaus Forkel, Georg Böhm, George Frideric Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach. Furthermore, copies in Mozart's hand of the Hexachord Fantasia survive, and even Beethoven knew Froberger's work through Albrechtsberger's teachings. The profound influence on Louis Couperin made Froberger partially responsible for the change Couperin brought into the French organ tradition (as well as for the development of the unmeasured prelude, which Couperin cultivated). Although the polyphonic pieces were highly esteemed in the 17th and 18th centuries, today Froberger is chiefly remembered for his contribution to the development of the keyboard suite. Indeed, he established the form almost single handedly and, through innovative and imaginative treatment of standard dance forms of the time, paved the way for Johann Sebastian Bach's elaborate contributions to the genre (not to mention almost every major composer in Europe, since the vast majority composed suites and were influenced by the "French style" exemplified by Froberger).

Johann Jakob Froberger: Works for Harpsichord (1990). Gustav Leonhardt (harpsichord). Deutsche Harmonia Mundi RD77923
A selection of 18 works for harpsichord, concluding with the Tombeau faict à Paris sur la mort de Monsieur Blancrocher. Johann Jakob Froberger: The Complete Keyboard Works (1994). Richard Egarr (organ, harpsichord). Globe GLO 6022–6025
Organized by manuscript and retains the original order of the pieces; works discovered after 1994 are not included. Also includes several works by other composers that were previously attributed to Froberger. The Unknown Works (2003/4). Siegbert Rampe (organ, harpsichord, clavichord). MDG 341 1186 2 and 341 1195 2
A recording of some 20 newly discovered works (mostly suites) and pieces of doubtful authorship. The Strasbourg Manuscript (2000). Ludger Rémy (harpsichord). CPO 9997502
Includes fourteen suites from the recently discovered Strasbourg Manuscript, only three of them known from autograph sources. Froberger Edition (2000–). Bob van Asperen (harpsichord, organ). AE 10024, 10054, 10064, 10074 (harpsichord), AE 10501, AE 10601, AE 10701 (organ)
The series is designed to be in 8 parts. Volume 4 makes use of the newest discoveries from the manuscripts of the Berliner Singakademie. Johann Jakob Froberger: Complete Music for Harpsichord and Organ (2016). Simone Stella (organ, harpsichord). 16 cd box Brilliant Classics BC 94740
as of 2016, this is the most updated complete recording. Organized by sources; includes newly discovered works.

Howard Schott. "Johann Jakob Froberger", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy. (subscription access). Avo Sõmer. "The Keyboard Music of Johann Jakob Froberger." University of Michigan, 1963, dissertation. Willi Apel. The History of Keyboard Music to 1700. Translated by Hans Tischler. Indiana University Press, 1972. Originally published as Geschichte der Orgel und Klaviermusik bis 1700 by Bärenreiter Verlag, Kassel. Andreas Vejvar / Markus Grassl (ed.). "'Avec discrétion'. Rethinking Froberger". Böhlau, Wien–Köln–Weimar, 2018 (Wiener Veröffentlichungen zur Musikgeschichte 14) [contributions in German and English] .