Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger
Libro primo d'Intavolatura di Chitarone (Venezia)
Year: 1604
Toccata Arpeggiata in F major
Introduction:
His solo works for plucked string instruments are of great historical importance. He was one of the first musicians to create compositions for chitarrone and to introduce many new technical solutions, in particular: positioning the right hand by placing the fourth finger on the resonance box, he also increased the number of choruses, allowing to play the entire chromatic scale on the bumblebee strings. Several of his compositions, as well as a manual for playing plucked string instruments entitled « Il Kapsperger della Musica Dialogo » did not subsisted.
Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger (1580-1651)
Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger or Johannes Hieronymus Kapsberger was born around 1580 is an Austro-Italian composer and virtuoso performer of the early Baroque period. A prolific and highly original composer, Kapsberger is best known today for his lute and theorbo music which played a determining role in the development of these solo instruments. Nothing is known about Kapsberger's date and place of birth. His father, Colonel Wilhelm von Kapsperger was a military officer of the Imperial House of Austria probably in staying or seconded to Venice, the city which may be Kapsberger's birthplace. After 1605, Kapsberger moved to Rome, where he quickly gained a reputation as a virtuoso musician. He cultivated ties with patrons and organized « academies » in his house, which were among the wonders of Rome. He began publishing his music around 1609 with more than a dozen collections appearing over the next ten years. These include the famous « Libro I d'intavolatura di lauto » published in 1611, Kapsberger's only collection of lute music. In 1624, Kapsberger entered the service of Cardinal Francesco Barberini, where he worked with many important composers, such as Girolamo Frescobaldi and Stefano Landi, then poets including Giulio Rospigliosi, the future Pope Clement IX. The composer's writing is characterized in particular in the toccatas by spontaneous changes, marked contrasts, unusual rhythmic groupings, and sometimes, passages that do not conform to the rules of counterpoint in use at the time.
But we cannot help but appreciate Kapsberger's insolent formal invention, his sought-after voluptuousness and his « stylus choraicus » carried away on the famous Toccata Arpeggiatia. The vast majority of contemporary critics praised Kapsberger's compositional talent and innovations. Among them, Athanasius Kircher, who describes the Italian master as a « genius » and attests that he successfully penetrated the secrets of music. However, Kapsberger also had detractors such as the critic Giovanni Battista Doni or the lutenist Rolf Lislevand. Regardless of how one views his compositional prowess, Kapsberger was one of the leading composers of music for lute and theorbo in the early Baroque era along with Alessandro Piccinini, and contributed greatly to the progress of stringed instruments European pinches of the time. Furthermore, Kapsberger's toccatas may have influenced those of Girolamo Frescobaldi, just as French lute music would, a few years later, influence the suites of Johann Jakob Froberger. Kapsberger's other music includes two collections of instrumental ensemble dances, rare for the period, and a wealth of vocal music, widely performed during his lifetime but less critically acclaimed today. His production also includes incidental music, almost all of which has been lost to this day. Kapsberger wrote no less than twenty-eight works. His activity as a music theorist led him to write a musical treatise, « The Kapsberger of Music » which unfortunately has not survived.
Lucien
Performed by Francesca Benetti (Theorbo) in 2020
• Toccata arpeggiata by ...
My sincere thanks to Francesca for her contribution.