Baroque Music - Composers

Girolamo Frescobaldi

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(b Ferrara, 1583; d Rome, 1643)
Italian composer and organist. Held post at Antwerp, becoming organist at St. Peter's, Rome, 1608-28 (30,000 are said to have attended his first performance there, an indication of his reputation as a virtuoso). Organist at Florentine court 1628-33, returning to St. Peter's thereafter. Composed motets and madrigals, Masses and Magnificats, but principle achievements were his toccatas, fugues, ricercari, and capriccios for organ and harpsichord. His music had a strong influence on German music through his pupil Froberger. Baroque music for the next century was influenced by Frescobaldi's development of variation-form.

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