Fasch, Johann Friedrich

Fasch, Johann Friedrich, important German composer, father of Karl Friedrich Christian Fasch; b. Buttelstadt, near Weimar, April 15, 1688; d. Zerbst, Dec. 5, 1758. At age 13 he entered the Leipzig Thomasschule, where he came under the tutelage of Kuhnau, and later studied at the Univ. of Leipzig and with Graupner and Grunewald in Darmstadt (1713). He was active as a violinist and organist, then was Kapellmeister to Count Vaclav Morzin in Prague (1721–22) and court Kapellmeister in Zerbst (from 1722). Although none of his music was publ. in his lifetime, his church cantatas and festival pieces for the Zerbst court were performed in many German cities. His friend Telemann gave performances of his church music in Hamburg, and J.S. Bach prepared several transcriptions of his overtures for performances with the Leipzig Collegium Musicum. Fasch’s innovative orch. writing foreshadowed the Classical style of Haydn and Mozart. Although much of his vocal output is not extant, many of his orch. works have survived. He composed 4 operas, 12 cantata cycles, 16 masses and mass movements, 5 Psalms, 19 syms., some 90 overtures (suites), about 70 concertos, 18 trio sonatas, etc. See R. Pfeiffer, ed., Verzeichnis der Werke von Johann Friedrich Fasch (FWV): Kleine Ausgabe (Magdeburg, 1988). His autobiography appeared in vol. Ill of F.W. Marpurg’s Historisch-kritische Beyträge zur Aufnahme der Musik (Berlin, 1757).

Bibliography

P. Tryphon, Die Symphonien von J.F. F. (diss., Free Univ. of Berlin, 1954); G. Kiintzel, Die Instrumentalkonzerte von J.F. F. (diss., Univ. of Frankfurt am Main, 1965); D. Sheldon, The Chamber Music of J.F. F. (diss., Ind. Univ., 1968); E. Thorn, ed., J.F.F. (1688–1758): Bericht uber die ivissenschaftliche Konferenz in Zerbst am 16. und 17. April 1988 aus Anlass des 300. Geburtstages (Michaelstein, 1989); R. Dittrich, Die Messen von J.F. F., 1688–1758 (Frankfurt am Main, 1992); R. Pfeiffer, J.F. E, 1688–1758: Leben und Werk (Wilhelmshaven, 1992); K. Musketa and B. Reul, eds., J.F. F. und sein Wirkenfur Zerbst (Dessau, 1997).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire