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Commemorating Fasch

The year 2008 is unusually special for German baroque composer Johann Friedrich Fasch.  Two hundred and fifty years ago he passed away in 1758 at the ripe old age of seventy, after a long life as a noted composer and Kapellmeister.  We can then commemorate his life this year by exploring the works of a man who is considered to be one of the most important German contemporaries of J.S. Bach.

Of his surviving compositions, it is his instrumental music that far outnumbers his vocal music and was inspired by the late baroque style made fashionable in Dresden.

Though his surviving cannon includes mostly instrumental music, Fasch was a prolific composer for the voice.  With the exception of oratorio, he flourished in every vocal genre found, including masses, cantatas, operas, and serenatas.

The most famous Fasch composition performed today is the concerto in D major for trumpet, two oboes, strings, and continuo, as it has been part of the standard trumpet repertoire for decades.

Our new release of the week comes from the Australian label ABC Classics.  Ensemble Battistin is featured in a program of French baroque cantatas by Montéclair and Stuck.

Here's a video of Fasch's concerto in D major for trumpet, two oboes, strings, and continuo, performed by trumpeter Giuliano Sommehalder and the Basel Chamber Orchestra:

The music heard in this program was performed by Katharina Arfken, Il Fondamento, Accademia Daniel, and The English Concert.

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