Sonatas, Divertimenti & Minuets

Unknown harpsichord music by François Krafft
This double CD is the first complete recording of the harpsichord music by François (Frans, Francisco, Francesco or Franciscus) Krafft (1729-1795). This little-known repertoire consists of 6 sonatas (opus 4), 2 divertimenti (opus 5) and 12 minuets. It is unclear why it took so long before a complete recording was made of this high-quality harpsichord music. One of the reasons may be that it was written in a transitional period between Baroque and Classical. Such periods are less interesting for authors of music history books because there are no major innovations nor any well-known composers that neatly demarcate the style periods. Music from such transition periods is often considered inferior or it is simply ignored. Additionally, musicians and melomaniacs from Belgium have often proved to be less interested in their national musical heritage because they underestimate and undervalued it. With the rise of the national schools in the second half of the 19th century, however, there was great interest in national and regional ‘early music’. A case in point is the interesting publication of harpsichord music by Chevalier van Elewyck. Another reason for the late complete recording may be the confusion over three contemporaries from the Krafft family. The music on this double CD, however, was composed by one and the same François Krafft.

Jan Devlieger
Jan Devlieger studied at the Conservatory of his hometown, Ghent, and gaining diplomas in chamber music, harmony, counterpoint and fugue, as well as master degrees in recorder and harpsichord. He is an active recorder player, harpsichordist, continuo player, concert presenter, publicist and composer. He has made CD recordings as solo harpsichordist and also with his own ensemble Les Goûts-Authentiques. From 2008 on, the following CDs were realized: A due cembali obligati for two harpsichords, The Submission based on music by the Loeillet family, The Delightful Companion, made up for recorder duets from renaissance and baroque periods, Five Centuries of Flemish Harpsichord Music, Six Suites for Harpsichord Jean Baptiste Loeillet alias Mr. John Loeillet of London, and also In Vain the Am’rous Flute and Dry Those Eyes with vocal and instrumental pieces by Purcell, Blow and contemporaries. Jan Devlieger teaches recorder, harpsichord and music theory classes at the Conservatory of Bruges and the Music Academy of Deinze. He also teaches accompaniment practice and tuning at the School of Arts in Ghent. Jan Devlieger composes in the ancient styles, with publications by Musica Repartita (Utrecht) and Edition Offenburg (Offenburg). He also writes programme notes and gives introductions to concerts in de Singel (Antwerp).