The Trip to Flanders

Between 1607 and 1608, young Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643) made his first and only voyage outside of Italy.He was in the entourage of Cardinal Guido Bentivoglio (1577-1644), who had been appointed apostolic nuncio at the Spanish court in Brussels.A member of one of the most important families of Ferrara, Bentivoglio was actively involved in the diplomatic service of the Holy See for his entire life, and his correspondence is extremely useful in tracing the events of Frescobaldi’s trip to Flanders.In Rome, where the trip began on 11 June 1607, Frescobaldi claims to have performed his Fantasie in the home of the duke Francesco Borghese.His earlycompositions probably also include the Ruggero, the Corrente and the Toccata preserved in the Chigiani codices of the Vatican Library.The Ruggero, composed as three fanciful variations over the bass of the same name, is characterized by certain “effects” typical of Frescobaldi.The Toccata is a short piece in which imitative episodes based on simple motifs frame the central ornamented “passaggio”.The Corrente, a dance in ternary meter and typical bipartite structure, is a variation of the Corrente Prima from the first book of Toccate e partite.