Grünewald: 7 Partiten

De Luca, Fernando

97290

Gottfried Grünewald (1673 -1739) was a German opera singer (bass), harpsichordist and composer. Nothing is known about his youth and training. From 1703 he was a composer at the Oper am Gänsemarkt in Hamburg. From the beginning of 1709, he worked as Vice-Kapellmeister at the court of Johann Georg von Sachsen-Weißenfels, where he married Johann Philipp Krieger’s daughter.

From 1711, he worked as vice-chapelmaster at the court in Darmstadt as Christoph Graupner’s deputy. Around 1717, several journeys as a pantaleon virtuoso are documented. He remained active at court until his death.

Of his works, only seven partitas for harpsichord have survived, written in the style customary for the time. The suites consist of the usual order of Prelude - Allemande-Courante-Sarabande-Gavotte-Menuet-Gigue.

“Too many performers confine themselves to the standard repertoire. Fortunately, there are artists who look beyond the obvious; Fernando De Luca is one of them and we should be thankful for him. De Luca is a good interpreter; I very much enjoyed his performances, they are as differentiated as possible, also in his treatment of the tempi. He has the advantage of a fine instrument, a copy of a Blanchet of 1754. That is as ‘authentic’ as one could wish for.” Thus wrote Musicweb International about De Luca’s recording of harpsichord works by Foucquet (BC 96772).

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9/2/24

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