Much of the attraction which the keyboard music of Johann Jakob Froberger holds for the modern listener arises from certain exotic, even mystical, qualities which distinguish his music from that of his contemporaries. He relies rather more on intuitive response than on the established forms adn conventions of the day, and yet remains stylistically very much a child of his time. His music is best approached with a minimum of preconceptions and with some understanding of 17-century musical practices.
When Froberger writes in the established polyphonic forms of capriccio, canzona or ricercare, the structure of his music is readily apparent. But even in these, expressive qualities are likely to be enhanced by unexpected dissonance, strange modulations and free recitativo excursions. In the freer forms, he often breaks the mold completely; with truly wild bravura passages in a toccata or painful chromaticism and delicate ornamentation in a lamento or tombeau.
Finding subjective self-expression so pervasively present in music written several decades before the birth of J. S. Bach may well surprise toda's musical audiences. Froberger was in fact a Romantic. "Here is not a tradition that expresses itself, but a man and an artist - a man who feels and an artist who transmutes the feeling. In its true expression of a genuine feeling, this composition is as typically German - and, for that matter, as typically romantic - as a Träumerei by Schumann, or an Intermezzo by Brahms." (Willi Apel in Masters of the Keyboard, discussing the Lamento in memory of Ferdinand III.)
Besides the warmly personal quality in much of Froberger's keyboard music, there are frequent appropriations of Italian and French mannerisms; here, in the best sense, is a truly eclectic composer. He traveled widely, absorbing the free keyboard style of Frescobaldi (his teacher in Rome) and, in Paris, the attitude of his contemporaries Louis Couperin and Chambonnières toward embellishments as a means of expression as well as decoration. Not content merely to imitate, Froberger created from these diverse influences his own uniquely powerful style. Even the intricate mechanical patterns of the English Virginalists are echoed in his variation pieces, Manfred Bukofzer (in Music in the Baroque Era) speaks of Froberger's "diversified elegance" and "veritable inventory of national styles", along with the fusion of "the delicate agrments of the French dance music with the hold harmonic language of the Italians".
Froberger was so immersed in these different styles that he even adopted their notation: in the suites, the two five-line staves normal in France; in the toccatas, two staves with six or more lines each in the Italian manner (a fragment of the latter is reproduced on this album). The traditional canzona and fantasia were written with one staff for each voice, the usual keyboard partitura.

Froberger was born in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1616. By 1634, he was in the service of Emperor Ferdinand III in Vienna, where he was probably associated with the music at the Hofkapel. From 1637 to 1641 on a stipend from the court; he was in Rome studying with Frescobaldi, whose chromatic, dissonant and rhythmically free style he prompty integrated into his ows. He served as Hoforganist in Vienna from 1641 to 1645; by 1650, in company with Duke Leopold (brother of Ferdinand III), he was in Innsbruck and Brussels where he met the versatile Constantin Huyghens. He arrived in Paris sometime around 1652; from 1653 to 1657, he was back in Vienna and in 1662, he made a trip to England. This latter expedition included an incident which is reported as follows (in Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians): "In 1662 Froberger journeyed to London, was twice robbed on the way and arrived in so destitute a condition that he thankfully accepted the post of organ-blower at Westminster Abbey, offered him by Christopher Gibbons, then organist of the Chapel Royal and the Abbey. Gibbons was playing before the court on the occasion of Charles II's marriage, when Froberger overblew the bellows and thus interrupted the performance; on which the enraged organist overhelmed him with abuse and even blows. Froberger seized the opportunity a few minutes later to sit down to the instrument and improvised in a manner which was at once recognized by a foreign lady who had formerly been his pupil and knew his style. She presented him to the king, who received him graciously and made him play on the harpsichord to the astonishment of all. This curious anecdote is not mentioned by English writers, but is given by Mattheson ("Ehrenpforte") from Froberger's own manuscript notes. Mattheson states that he became a Roman Catholic during his visit to Rome, but it is almost certain that he was one already, when he entered the empeor's service in 1637." (It is possible that Froberger became a lutheran again while in London, and that he was dismissed from the court because of it.)
Froberger was thought to be the best German organist of his day, and his travels to Paris and London were not primarily to study but to perform. His renown in his own time is attested to in Walther's Musicalisches Lexicon of 1732 which devotes as much space to him (half a column) as to J. S. Bach. Mattheson's Grundlage einer Ehrenpforte of 1740 further substantiates his fame as a keyboard virtuoso in an account of a competition in Dresden with the formidable Matthias Weckmann, from which the contestants departed "with mutual respect".
Froberger spent his last years in the service of the Duchess Sybilla of Württemberg, his last student as well as patroness, who was said to have learned from him "note for note" the proper interpretation of his music. She was made to promise, shortly before his death in 1667, "not to give any of his compositions to anyone, because they would not know how to perform them properly, and would only spoil them". Present-day music lovers ean be grateful that her vow did not prevent the works from eventually appearing, especially since it probably applied to Froberger's last, most expressive pieces.
For this recording, Mr. Leonhardt used the modern edition of Froberger's music (found in Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich) wich is based on the manuscripts in the Vienna Library and the works published in 1693 and 1696.

Toccatas II, V, VI. It is likely that Froberger was in Rome when these toccatas were composed - the fierce recitativo sections, dissonant chromaticism and almost rubato tempi are all strongly Italian in style. Toccatas V and VI testify to Frescobaldi's influence in their inspired improvisatory passages, written-out embellishments, unexpected changes of tonality and, especially the Lombard rhythm (near the end of VI). [Lombard rhythm (a device described  in Frescobaldi's First Book of Toccatas and Partitas) may be either written out or introduced at the player's discretion. It consists of shortening the first and lengthening the second of two step-wise eighth or sixteenth notes.] Toccata II differs from Frescobaldi's toccatas in that it contains a fugal section.
Toccatas V and VI are marked "Da sonarsi alla Lecatione" (to be played during the Elevation), thus giving them a liturgical function and clearly defining the organ as the proper instrument on which to play them. Toccata II is equally successful on the harpsichord but, as is often the case, is unmarked by the composer as to medium. Mr. Leonhardt plays each of the four sections on a contrasting division of the organ.
The six sections of Fantasia I sopra Ut, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, are set off from each other by changes in texture, rhythmic motion or meter. These are underlined by changes of keyboard for each section, beginning and ending with the majestic sonority of the main division of the organ. Preceded by harmonies which are perhaps more bland than those of the toccatas; Fantasia I ends with a more typical chromaticism and a cadence with a "modern" dominant 7th chord in C, created by a suspension from the preceding chord based on B-flat - hardly a conventional progression! As Mr. Leonhardt observes, hexachord fantasias [pieces based on groups of six diatonic notes with the half.step between the third and fourth] were so numerous that they became "the backhome of musical organization, especially for keyboard, in the 16th and 17th centuries."
Capriccio VI could well have been written after Froberger's return from England rather than during his Italian days. It is predominantly polyphonic, thus differing from the Italian style pieces, relying for example on inversion (after the initial statement of the chromatic subject and in the third section). The four distinct sections are indicated by cadences with fermatas or changes of meter. Each section is played on a different keyboard or with a different intensity od sound, beginning with the Principal stops of the main division and ending with the full chorus of the Rückpositiv, including a 16' reed stop.

Toccata XXI is an excellent example of Froberger's Italian styls; the writen out tritts and other ornaments (often beginning on the principal note), as well as the flashing sclar decorations and harmonic changes are all reminiscent fo Frescobaldi. Toccata VIII is notably idiomatic for the harpsichord with elaborate figuration as well as brilliant passage work, against which a three-voice chord is held. The piece divides into three sections, punctuated by cadences in A major, B major and E major, and a successful performance requires the contrasts of tempo judiciously employed by Mr. Leonhardt. Leading by way of chromatic and dissonant polyphony to the long note values, the work ends with an abrupt and astonishing cadence.
Perhaps the most remarkable of all the pieces recorded here is the Tombeau sur la Mort de Monsieur Blacrocher in memory of the great French lutenist Blancrocher, Louis Couperin and Froberger were present at the gathering (probably during the year 1655) which was tragically terminated when Blancrocher fell down the stairs to his death. (The comparison between Couperin's tombeau dedicated to Blanrocher and Froberger's is a fascinating one.)
The terms tombeau, lamento and plainte were sometimes feed interchangeably and it is not easy to attach a distinctive meaning to each. Tombeau is deined as "a composition written in memory of one deceased", while lamento and plainte mean simply "music of elegiac, mournful character". Froberger wrote a marvelously expressive lamento to his patron, Ferdinand III, and, later, one for Ferdinand IV which is actually divided into "scenes", with pictures to go with each (as in earlier similar lute pieces and the Biblical "Rosary" Sonatas of Heinrich Biber).
This Tombeau calls to mind the spontaneous, arpeggiated medium of the lute. As an expression of respect and grief, it is especially poignant at the end where a descending scale, tumbling down to low C, can be nothing other than a suggestion of the tragic accident of M. Blancrocher. Mr. Leonhardt's performance, with its rhythmic freedom and sensitivity to the excruciating and dissonant harmonies is in accordance with the composer's instructions, "Lequel se joue lentement a la discrétion sans observer aucune mesur." (slowly, without rhythmic regularity, according to the player's inclination).
Suite XVIII (G minor) and XIX (C minor). Froberger seems to have been the first composer to collect several dance movements in sequence for keyboard. Although his manuscripts show the movements in the order Allemande, Gigue, Courante, Sarabande - as recorded here - the 1693 edition presents them "mis en meilleur ordre" (arranged in more proper sequence) with the gigue, when present, at the end. Other 17th-century composers, such as Heinrich Biber, sometimes ended suites with the sarabande but, by the time of François Couperin and J. S. Bach, the gigue was firmly established as the final movement. Froberger, then, seems to have invented the keyboard suite but not the order that eventually became standard.
Both o these suites were doubtless written during or after Froberger's sojourn in Paris, and they illustrate the French influence of ornamentation and stylization of dance movements. Therefore, Mr. Leonhardt employs ornaments in the French style. Particularly "French" in feeling are the Courantes of both suites, for which the player must interpolate most of the ornaments. It is useful to remember that earlier collections of dances were originally intended for the lute and that it was still a very popular instrument. Arpeggiations (especially in the Allemande of XVIII) and repeated notes (as in the Sarabande of XIX) suggests the idiom of the lute.
Ricercar X. Of the more traditional polyphonic forms, the capriccio and the canzona were likely to be based on lively, instrumental themes, with a new one for each section of the piece. The fantasia and the ricercare showed a clearer debt to earlier choral music, using more vocal material or hexachord themes. Ricercare X is based on such a vocal idea, which is varied in each of the four sections of the work. Each section is set off by a change in meter or note values. Section I is in common time, Section II in triple meter, Section III in cut time and the final section doubles the note values without changing meter. Due to its monothematic organization, this Ricercare not only suggests variation form, but also resembles a tightly organized fugue. It is not a fugue in the 18-century sense, however, since there are no "episodes" or sections which do not include the main subject of the piece.

During his travels, Froberger had the opportunity to play organs and harpsicords of various styles. Italian organs, which he could hardly have avoided during his study with Frescobaldi at St. Peter's in Rome, were much milder in sound and more limited in tone color than northern instruments. The organs Froberger knew in Vienna were probably of the northern type, capable of more varied and aggressive sound than those he saw in Italy. The 17th-century northern instruments normally possessed a complete Pedal division, capable of carrying a polyphonic line or a cantus firmus, with two or three independent manual choruses of brilliant quality. Italian instruments, including those of the Antegnati family, the leading builders in 17th-century Italy, possessed a single keyboard with 12 to 18 stops of Flute and Principal quality and few if any reed stops. Often, stops were divided with separate controls for bass and treble. There were no independent Pedal stops and the Pedal keyboard, if there was one, was coupled to the manual for organ points or an occasional bass note.
An unusual effect peculiar to the Italian organs was the “Registro voci humani" which consisted of two 8' Principal stops, one of which was a bit flatter ("Fiffaro") than the other, thus producing an undulation thought to suggest the human voice. The same effect can be obtained by drawing a unison stop slightly less than its full distance, thus reducing the amount of wind available to the pipes (beginning of Toccata V.)
The organ used for these performances is in the fine 15th-century Gothic Michaelskerk in Zwolle, Holland. Whether Froberger thought of his organ works in terms of the Italian or northern instruments, or both, is not easy to decide. Considering the splendid results produced by Mr. Leonhardt, there can be no doubt that Froberger's music speaks authentically through this instrument. Perhaps the most monumental organ in all of Europe, it was designed by Arp Schnitger in 1718 and, with alterations and enlargements by his son Frans Caspar, was completed in 1721. There are four keyboards and Pedal with each division separately encased, in accordance with the practice of the high baroque. The reverbentíon time of the Michaelskerk is about 5 seconds when empty due to the lame cubic volume of the building and the hard natural materials used in its construction. Organ sound, more than any other, is dependent on reverberation for optimmn effect, a factor unfortunately often overlooked in modern architectural design and organ building. The instrument was completely restored (1953-1955) by the well known Dutch organ builder and student of Schnitger instruments, D. A. Flentrop.
The best harpsichords available to Froberger would have been either Italian or Flemish. The Italian instruments provided two stops at 8' pitch on a single manual. Their tone is rather flute-like, not rich in high harmonics, and loud at the instant of attack but quick to die away, due to light construction and short strings. As a result, rapid figures are clear, brilliant and declamatory, while sustained chords sound somewhat bland and fade abruptly. The Flemish instruments are musically quite different, owing to heavier bridges and longer strings; the tone is brighter and more complex, and held notes sustain longer. The prevalent single manual types offered either two stops at 8' pitch of moderately contrasting quality or an 8' and a 4' (octave) stop. It is probable that Froberger had access to the earliest expressive two manual instruments which provided 8' and 4' stops on the lower manual and another, brighter, 8' stop on the upper which could be used solo or added to the lower by coupling.
The instrument used for this recording is an early 18th-century French one. It is therefore a musical descendant of the Flemish type, with two manuals and 8', 8' and 4' stops. The lower manual 8' register, however, slightly resembles an Italian 8' stop, especially in the soprano part of the compass.

The harpsichord portion of this recital was recorded in Framingham, Mass., U.S.A., in the summer of 1962, using ribbon microphones and NAB equalization. The organ side, recorded in Holland earlier the same year, was made with condenser microphones and CCIR equalization, which has purposely not been compensated for in transfer. It may therefore be desirable to reduce the treble for the organ and, on some equipment, increase it for the harpsichord.