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Johann F. Fasch (1688 - 1758)
Descended from a line of Lutheran Kantors and theologians, violinist and choir director Johann Friedrich Fasch came from a musical family and began studying with J. P. Kuhnau around age thirteen, then eventually studied music at the University of Leipzig (or the Leipzig Thomasschule). He wore an eighteenth-century wig not so different from that of his Hungarian neighbor Fr. J. Haydn, who would later be “nicknamed” the “Father of the Symphony,” but did precede said neighbor by a whole generation. As his popularity grew, *Duke* Moritz Wilhelm of Saxe-Zeitz appointed him to write operas for the Naumburg Peter-Paul festivals, after which he was assigned the position of a violinist, and later a court secretary & organist. Positions after that included Kapellmeister to the Bohemian Count Winzel Morzin in Praque, and court Kapellmeister in Zerbst. This is where he composed instrumental music, church cantatas and festival music (for the court). Though he is known only to a few these days, Fasch enjoyed—or endured—notoriety in Saxony, Hamburg, Prague and Vienna during his lifetime and especially during his time in Zerbst. He decided in 1722, the same year he reluctantly accepted the position of court Kapellmeister in Zerbst, that it was too early to leave that place for the chance to be Thomaskantor in Leipzig. Notably, letters of his have shown that he became (or was right from the beginning) unhappy in Zerbst. For one or more reasons, though, he remained there for the rest of his life, during which time he kept busy with primarily writing church cantatas and festival music for the count. Not only were all his compositions published after he died, but thanks in part to being so overshadowed in history by Bach, the year 1900 or so was when the music of Johann Fasch was given proper recognition by a man named Hugo Riemann.
His repertoire included four operas, all of which have allegedly been lost, fourteen masses, also lost, and nine cantata cycles …which may also be missing to this day. His instrumental works, however, have re-surfaced in various locations or institutions by now. Now, when all of your music is published AFTER you’re dead, that tends to make the originals more vulnerable to the jaws of Oblivion.
Additionally Fasch wrote approximately sixty concertos, spanning the transition from the Baroque to Classical periods (~1750).
As for symphonies, he focused on* the String section, composing at least (or at most) nineteen of them. Their durations are usually nine to twelve minutes. As you listen, the sound will be dominated rather exclusively by the strings, depending on—or regardless of—what symphony it is. For this episode, we will hear the one titled “Sinfonia in G (FWV M:G4)” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXK1NzmRUmA
Sources: Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale, © 2024; The Kennedy Center, copyright 1990-2024; MUSOPEN (musopen.org/music/composer/johann-friedrich-fasch/pieces); classicstoday.com;
*In particular the symphonies feature the double string part in a more simple form: by “eliminating repeated notes, or taking just the main notes of an arpeggiated passage” (Sheldon, 1972) in the wind section.
Applause to the listeners!
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By R ThorburnDescended from a line of Lutheran Kantors and theologians, violinist and choir director Johann Friedrich Fasch came from a musical family and began studying with J. P. Kuhnau around age thirteen, then eventually studied music at the University of Leipzig (or the Leipzig Thomasschule). He wore an eighteenth-century wig not so different from that of his Hungarian neighbor Fr. J. Haydn, who would later be “nicknamed” the “Father of the Symphony,” but did precede said neighbor by a whole generation. As his popularity grew, *Duke* Moritz Wilhelm of Saxe-Zeitz appointed him to write operas for the Naumburg Peter-Paul festivals, after which he was assigned the position of a violinist, and later a court secretary & organist. Positions after that included Kapellmeister to the Bohemian Count Winzel Morzin in Praque, and court Kapellmeister in Zerbst. This is where he composed instrumental music, church cantatas and festival music (for the court). Though he is known only to a few these days, Fasch enjoyed—or endured—notoriety in Saxony, Hamburg, Prague and Vienna during his lifetime and especially during his time in Zerbst. He decided in 1722, the same year he reluctantly accepted the position of court Kapellmeister in Zerbst, that it was too early to leave that place for the chance to be Thomaskantor in Leipzig. Notably, letters of his have shown that he became (or was right from the beginning) unhappy in Zerbst. For one or more reasons, though, he remained there for the rest of his life, during which time he kept busy with primarily writing church cantatas and festival music for the count. Not only were all his compositions published after he died, but thanks in part to being so overshadowed in history by Bach, the year 1900 or so was when the music of Johann Fasch was given proper recognition by a man named Hugo Riemann.
His repertoire included four operas, all of which have allegedly been lost, fourteen masses, also lost, and nine cantata cycles …which may also be missing to this day. His instrumental works, however, have re-surfaced in various locations or institutions by now. Now, when all of your music is published AFTER you’re dead, that tends to make the originals more vulnerable to the jaws of Oblivion.
Additionally Fasch wrote approximately sixty concertos, spanning the transition from the Baroque to Classical periods (~1750).
As for symphonies, he focused on* the String section, composing at least (or at most) nineteen of them. Their durations are usually nine to twelve minutes. As you listen, the sound will be dominated rather exclusively by the strings, depending on—or regardless of—what symphony it is. For this episode, we will hear the one titled “Sinfonia in G (FWV M:G4)” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXK1NzmRUmA
Sources: Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale, © 2024; The Kennedy Center, copyright 1990-2024; MUSOPEN (musopen.org/music/composer/johann-friedrich-fasch/pieces); classicstoday.com;
*In particular the symphonies feature the double string part in a more simple form: by “eliminating repeated notes, or taking just the main notes of an arpeggiated passage” (Sheldon, 1972) in the wind section.
Applause to the listeners!