Fischer, Johann Caspar Ferdinand

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Fischer, Johann Caspar Ferdinand

Fischer, Johann Caspar Ferdinand, significant German composer; b. c. 1665; d. Rastatt, Aug. 27, 1746. He was in the service of the Margrave of Baden (1696–1716), and continued when the court moved to Rastatt in 1716. He adopted Lully’s style in his compositions, and thereby influenced other German composers. His Ariadne musica neo-organoedum (1702), a collection of 20 organ preludes and fugues in 20 different keys, foreshadowed Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier. All of the works listed below were ed. by E. von Werra (Leipzig, 1901). Fischer also publ. several of his vocal works.

Works

Le Journal du printemps, 8 suites for 5 Strings and 2 Trumpets ad libitum, op. 1 (Augsburg, 1695; ed. in Denkmaler Deutscher Tonkunst, X, 1902); Les Pieces de clavessin, 8 suites for Keyboard, op. 2 (Schlackenworth, 1696; reprinted as Musikalisches Blumen- Buschlein, 1698); Ariadne musica neo-organoedum, 20 preludes and fugues in 20 different keys for Organ, op. 4 (Schlackenworth, 1702); Blumen Strauss…in 8 Tonos Ecclesiasticos eingetheilet for Organ (Augsburg, 1732); Musicalischer Parnassus, 9 suites for Keyboard (Augsburg, 1738).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire