Frescobaldi, Girolamo (1583, 1643)

Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643)was a respected virtuoso organist and composer.



He studied with Luzzaschi in Ferrara, where the musical tastes of the ruling duke, Alfonso II d'Este, attracted musicians of great distinction. At the beginning of the new century, Frescobaldi moved to Rome under the patronage of Guido Bentivoglio who, in 1607, took him to Brussels, an important centre of keyboard music in the northern European tradition.



In 1608 he was appointed organist at St. Peter's in Rome, where he remained until his death, with a brief absence for promised employment in Mantua in 1615 and a subsequent period of six years serving the Medici in Florence.



Frescobaldi taught the German organist Froberger and influenced both his playing and his composition.
Frescobaldi published a number of collections of keyboard pieces, as well as compositions for varied groups of instruments.
His collection of organ works, "Fiori musicale" is still widely performed. The keyboard works include Toccatas, Caprices, Ricercari and dance movements.