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 Kraft.