Suites, fugues, toccatas and variations by a well-traveled contemporary of J. S. Bach in a new recording by an Italian harpsichordist with an impressive catalog of baroque rarities on Brilliant Classics.

The music of Conrad Friedrich Hurlebusch (1691-1765) has featured on a number of enterprising collections of baroque rarities, but this is the first album ever devoted entirely to the art of a composer whose style successfully reflects his cosmopolitan outlook. After receiving initial instruction from both his father Heinrich - another organist/composer - and a pupil of Buxtehude, Hurlebusch left his birthplace of Brunswick and embarked on a journey through Europe that took him to Hamburg, Tuscany, Venice, Stockholm and many places in between during the first half of his career. During a stay in Leipzig, he met Bach and his sons; CPE mentioned Hurlebusch in reports as an outstanding keyboard virtuoso.

Finally, in 1742, Hurlebusch settled down as organist of the famous Oude Kerk in Amsterdam. On his travels, Hurlebusch had become acquainted with various Italian styles such as the works of Corelli and Vivaldi, but also remained open to newer developments such as the galant style of the 1730s and 1740s. The volume of harpsichord music recorded here by Fernando de Luca, which was published in Hamburg around 1735, is an expanded reprint of a collection published two years earlier as Op. 1 by the composer. It was never recorded in its entirety, but reveals a wealth of invention in an outward-looking, extroverted style that must have suited Hurlebusch's talents as a performer: This is music designed to make an impression.

The volume begins with an extensive set of variations on a minuet. There are five dance suites - allemandes, courantes, sarabandes, minuets and gigues, as we find them in Bach's solo instrumental suites - and several independent fugues and toccatas.

Fernando De Luca has made numerous recordings for Brilliant Classics, including recent volumes dedicated to Jean-Jacques Beauvarlet-Charpentier (96774), Pierre-Thomas Dufour (96771) and Pierre-Claude Foucquet (96772).

- Conrad Friedrich Hurlebusch (1691-1765) was born in Braunschweig (Germany) and died in Amsterdam. He received his first training from his father Heinrich Lorenz Hurlebusch, an organist and composer. One of his teachers was Buxtehude's pupil Johann Anton Coberg. As a keyboard virtuoso, but also as a conductor, he devoted much of his time to touring Europe, settling for relatively short periods in Hamburg, Vienna, Venice, Rome and Stockholm. During his 10-year stay in Hamburg, he met Johann Sebastian Bach and his children in Leipzig. Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, the second-born, mentioned him as an outstanding keyboard virtuoso. in 1742, he settled permanently in Amsterdam after being appointed organist at the Oude Kerk, the oldest church in the city, a post which Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck had held in the past and which he held until his death. He became one of the protagonists of Amsterdam's musical life and was granted Dutch citizenship in 1743. Due to his cosmopolitan background, Hurlebusch was familiar with many Italian musical styles (Arcangelo Corelli, Antonio Vivaldi), but also remained open to newer developments such as the galant style of the 1730s and 1740s. - This new recording presents the two-part "Compositioni musicali per il cembalo, 1735", recorded here in its entirety by Fernando De Luca and consisting of five suites, five fugues, two toccatas and some variations. This shows that the composer was familiar with the forms common at the time and seamlessly blended French and Italian styles.

- Played on a French harpsichord after Blanchet (1754), built by C. Caponi (1985), by Fernando De Luca, one of Italy's most important harpsichordists. He recorded the complete piano works of Graupner, Jollage, Dufour and Moyreau and was highly praised by the critics. The recording of the works by Jollage received 5 stars in the French Diapason.