Johann Jakob Froberger

Johann Jakob Froberger (baptized May 19, 1616, Stuttgart, Württemberg [Germany]—died May 7, 1667, Héricourt, Fr.) was a German composer, organist, and harpsichordist whose keyboard compositions are generally acknowledged to be among the richest and most attractive of the early Baroque era.

Froberger became a court organist in Vienna in 1637, but the same year he went to Rome to study under Girolamo Frescobaldi. After further employment at the Viennese court (1641–45 and 1653–57), he toured widely.

Froberger was the earliest important German composer for the harpsichord. His style represents an integration of French, Italian, and other styles with the more austere style of German keyboard music. He was the first German master of the keyboard suite. His suites in manuscript consisted of three movements, often with an interpolated gigue; but in the posthumous publication of 1693 they were arranged in the order that became standard for the suite: allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue. Although the suites are clearly for harpsichord or clavichord, in other works, such as the partitas, it is difficult to say whether the music was intended for harpsichord or organ. His canzoni for harpsichord and organ are composed in several sections bound together by a single theme. His powerful and imaginative toccatas and fantasias, composed for the organ, show the influence of Frescobaldi and were highly regarded by J.S. Bach.