The recently discovered "Kortkamp” manuscript is a sensation not only for Froberger enthusiasts: it provides an unexpected answer to the more than 200-year-old question as to the suite the 18th-century musicologist Johann Mattheson had in mind when he referred to Froberger’s "Allemande faite en passant le Rhin.”

The E-Minor Suite XXVII is found in the Kortkamp manuscript along with the detailed description of an event that took place on the Rhine. Numbers in the text refer to specific passages in the music. Such an itemization of a programmatic work is unique in musical history. After commenting on the find in the German early music magazine CONCERTO, Bob van Asperen has now recorded parts of the new manuscript, offering a vivid rendition of the important ”Rhine” suite.

Among the other pieces on this disc are additional new contributions to Froberger’s oeuvre. In the 48-page booklet, Bob van Asperen outlines the new insights with the help of numerous illustrations.

The instrument used for this recording is a French harpsichord from the collection of the Württembergisches Landesmuseum, Stuttgart, that only recently could be attributed to Claude Labrèche (c.1780). Its rich sound is eminently suitable for the works recorded here.