# Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer (1656 - 1746)



## Taggart

JCF Fischer is not to be confused with the Swabian Johann Fischer (1646-1716) who was a keyboard player and a violinist. Nikolaus Forkel ranked JCF Fischer as one of the best composers for keyboard of his day, however, partly due to the rarity of surviving copies of his music, his music is rarely heard today.

Little is known of his early life or of his musical training. He went to school in Schlackenwerth. It was presumably here that he received his first lessons in composition - the monastery archive contains an early work by him - and learnt to play the keyboard and the violin. He also attended performances by the Schlackenwerth court band and was appointed Kapellmeister to the Saxon-Lauenburg court in Schlackenwerth sometime between 1686 and 1689.

We do know that JCF Fischer was influenced by Lully. The typical Froberger (1616- 1667) style established allemande, courante, sarabande and gigue as the obligatory parts of a keyboard suite. JCF Fischer began to add French dance movements - ballet, bourée, gavotte, menuet, passepied and so forth. He didn't adhere to a particular order, preferring to offer the listener or performer great variety instead. We do not know where he picked this up. In Paris with Lully? In Prague from Muffat? Muffat had studied with Lully and Schlackenwerth maintained a residence in Prague. Did he use the relations of the Schlackenwerth court with Schloß Raudnitz on the River Elbe, where the library contained works by Lully and the local orchestra would have played works by Lully?

In the mid 1690's, Fischer was appointed Kapellmeister to the Baden court. Initially, though, the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) with its repeated outbreaks of hostilities, prevented the move to Rastatt: the court stayed in Schlackenwerth for the time being. The Margrave of Baden, Ludwig Wilhelm, began extending the Rastatt residence into an imposing palace, which he then moved into with his wife in 1705. Fischer moved to Rastatt in 1715 after the end of the War of the Spanish Succession. Fischer served the Baden court for almost 60 years, albeit with the assistance of the man who was to succeed him, Franz Ignaz Zwifelhofer (1694-1756), towards the end of his career.

The courtly surroundings in which J.C.F. Fischer worked are clearly reflected in his compositions. In addition to eight orchestral suites in the French mode - printed in 1695 under the title Le Journal du Printemps - his œuvre contains many secular and sacred works (Singspiele, scenic dialogues, settings of the Mass, sacred concerti, psalm settings etc.) and also five one- to three-act operas which were performed on festive occasions. Fischer's music sparkles with melodic and rhythmic richness.

Fischer's keyboard works include the organ cycle _Ariadne Musica_ featuring preludes and fugues in 20 different keys. This work was published in 1702, 20 years ahead of J.S. Bach's _Well-Tempered Clavier_; Bach actually held Fischer's work in high regard and took some of his thematic inspiration from the older man's cycle. Handel also knew Fischer's work and sometimes borrowed from it.

Source: Bach Cantatas


----------



## Taggart

Thanks to @classical yorkist for this:tiphat:

http://www.saladelcembalo.org/hpd/a.php?p=a2017_12

Fernando de Luca playing some Fischer and Bohm.


----------



## Taggart

William Christie (Les Arts Florissant) playing Fischer on the harpsichord:






The Ariadne Musica performed by Wolfgang Baumgratz on the Schnitger Orgel in Grasberg:






Le Journal Du Printemps Op 1 Orfeo Baroque Orchestra


----------

