Page "Johann Jakob Froberger" Paragraph 35

The rest of Froberger's keyboard works may be performed on any keyboard instrument, including the organ.

The toccatas are the only ones to employ free writing to some degree ; the majority are strictly polyphonic.

In terms of organisation, Froberger's toccatas are reminiscent of those by Michelangelo Rossi, also a student of Frescobaldi ; instead of being composed of numerous brief parts, they feature a few tightly woven sections, alternating between strict polyphony and free, improvisational passages.

They are usually of moderate length and the harmonic content is not dissimilar to Frescobaldi's, although Froberger's harmony favors softer, more pleasing turns ( not without some notable exceptions, particularly in the two Da sonarsi alla Levatione works ), and his toccatas are always more focused on the original tonality, unlike those by either Frescobaldi or Rossi.

The fugal sections are present in most toccatas and are quasi-imitative and are not as strict as later 17th century fugues ; when a toccata features several fugal inserts, a single motif may be used for all of them, varied rhythmically.