Fasch, Concerto in D

We hit something of a milestone today with our 300th performance pick. Plus it’s a new year (although the second post of the year). So a work that’s upbeat and cheerful seems right, and one by a composer who is likely to be new to you.

Johann Friedrich Fasch, whose dates (1688-1758) coincide closely with Bach, was born in Buttelstedt, Germany just 8 miles up the road from Weimar. Yes, Weimar, the home of Goethe and Schiller, the one-time home of Bach, and the place where Carol and I put down roots 20 years ago. Fasch became a choirboy at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig (Bach’s final station) and spent most of career as Kappellmeister in Zerbst. You will find Zerbst on the Elbe River not far from Köthen, another of Bach’s stations. Fasch settled in Zerbst in 1722 after being invited to apply for the job of Kappellmeister at St. Thomas Church. He withdrew his name and the opening was filled in 1723 by Bach.

If those parallels with Bach don’t seem sufficient, try this: Fasch had a son, Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch, who became assistant harpsichordist in the court of Frederick the Great. Assistant to whom? Bach’s son, Carl Philip Emanuel.

So you won’t be surprised that this concerto grosso (catalogued as FaWV L:D8) sounds rather like J.S. Bach. A concerto grosso pits a solo instrument or group of instruments (concertino) against the larger ensemble (ripieno). Fasch indicates a concertino of solo violin only despite the arguably more prominent role given to flute and oboe.

Fasch left a rather extensive catalog of works, including some 70 concertos, a similar number of sacred cantatas, about 90 orchestral suites, about a dozen masses, and many other works. Although rather famous in his day, none of his works were published in his lifetime, and many were lost, but quite a few were preserved in the files of C.P.E. Bach.