Preludes and Fugues 09-12

Nikolaus Forkel ranked Johann Casper Ferdinand Fischer 1656- 1746) as one of the best composers for keyboard of his day.

Fischer went to school in Schlackenwerth. It was presumably there that he received his first lessons in composition and learnt to play the keyboard and the violin. He was appointed Kapellmeister to the Saxon-Lauenburg court in Schlackenwerth between 1686 and 1689.

Fischer was influenced by Lully. The typical Froberger (1616-1667) style had allemande, courante, sarabande and gigue as the parts of a keyboard suite.
Fischer began to add French dance movements. He didn't adhere to a particular order, preferring to offer the listener or performer great variety instead.

In the mid 1690's, Fischer was appointed Kapellmeister to the Baden court. He moved to Rastatt in 1715 and served the there for almost 60 years, 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 Fischer worked are reflected in his compositions. Fischer's music sparkles with melodic and rhythmic richness.

His 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 held Fischer's work in high regard and took some of his thematic inspiration from him. Handel also knew Fischer's work and sometimes borrowed from it.

I'm intending to play to complete Ariadne Musica. The pieces, all preludes and fugues, are short, so I'm uploading them in sets of four.

Starting points:

09 - 00:00 Prelude und Fuge f-moll
10 - 02:42 Prelude und Fuge F-Dur
11 - 04:30 Prelude und Fuge fis-moll
12 - 06:36 Prelude und Fuge g-moll