Froberger: Complete Fantasias and Canzonas (Audio recording: Divine Art Recordings DDA 25204)
- Submitting institution
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Royal College of Music
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- 2
- Type
- I - Performance
- Venue(s)
- Not applicable (audio recording)
- Open access status
- Out of scope for open access requirements
- Month of first performance
- -
- Year of first performance
- 2020
- URL
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http://researchonline.rcm.ac.uk/id/eprint/1169/
- Supplementary information
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-
- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
-
-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- This world première recording reassesses Froberger’s neglected contrapuntal music through the medium of the clavichord. My aim was to reveal a greater range of nuance, vocality and expression than is achievable on the harpsichord or organ. Froberger would have known the clavichord and it is clear from contemporary witnesses that it was a fundamental medium for contrapuntal performance, study, and pedagogy. Through practical experiment I developed new playing methods to accommodate the unusual keyboard dimensions and design (fretting) of the clavichord. Techniques were mastered progressively by refining fingering, modifying notation, devising new ornamentation, and incorporating extemporisation, all of which extend current practice. Sound on the clavichord is produced by the tangent striking and then remaining in contact with the vibrating strings. Unlike all other keyboard instruments, the tone of each note can thus be varied in real time by the player’s fingertip after it is struck, similar to that of a violinist, a desirable prerequisite in contrapuntal performance. I examined extant historical clavichords in Berlin, consulted modern makers and players, and spent one year working with a reconstructed instrument, leading to live performances and the recording. Focussing on Froberger’s surviving fantasias and canzonas, I examined holograph manuscripts and posthumous editions for performance evidence concealed within the notation (e.g., microtonal tunings). My research subsequently revealed a nexus of relationships between a wide range of seemingly disparate Baroque contrapuntal keyboard works. Audio documentation and written text is combined to represent the research process and its presentation to scholars, performers, and listeners. Associated journal articles and video presentations (see portfolio) are targeted at specialist practitioners; the CD is distributed internationally and also available as download files and stream-only content. Reviews have been published in American Record Guide and Early Music Review. Conference and concert presentations are scheduled in Germany and the USA.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -