Jean-Baptiste Forqueray

The son of Antoine, a noted viol player, Jean-Baptiste had a difficult childhood exemplified by his later imprisonment by his father at the age of 20. Jean-Baptistse himself was an exceptional harpsichord player and viol technician. He took the scores of his father and reworked them for harpsichird making them undistiguishable from his own. Forqueray's viol techniques were illustrated in his arrangements giving the player proper fingering and bowing procedures. The pieces were difficult at best as Forqueray explored the upper register of the instrument like none before him. Experimenting with open-chords and unusual sequnces (7ths, 9ths, diminished 7ths, Neopolitan 6ths) brought a challenge to many of his compositions. Students who were the pupils of Jean-Baptiste Forqueray included the daughter of Louis XV and Friedrich Wilhelm, later King of Prussia. Correspondence between Jean-Baptiste and Friedrich Wilhelm gives an insight into viol technique and methods of the 18th century. ~ Keith Johnson