Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583–1643) was a pioneering Italian composer and one of the most influential keyboard virtuosos of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Born in Ferrara, he was a prodigy who studied with Luzzasco Luzzaschi before launching a distinguished career in Rome, where he served as organist of St. Peter’s Basilica.
His toccatas, partitas, and other keyboard works reshaped musical expression through bold harmonies, rhythmic freedom, and emotional intensity.
Frescobaldi’s innovations profoundly shaped later composers, especially his student Johann Jakob Froberger, and his legacy echoes through the evolution of Baroque keyboard music.
