German composer Johann Friedrich Fasch held a variety of prestigious posts during his lifetime, but his output, aside from an attractive trumpet concerto, has been little investigated by performers. He was born just three years after Bach, but on the evidence of the works here he lived in a later and more progressive stylistic universe. The five four-movement mixed-instrument quartets heard here are predecessors of the Classical-period divertimento. The most important practitioner of the form was Telemann, whose "Quadri" ...
Read More
German composer Johann Friedrich Fasch held a variety of prestigious posts during his lifetime, but his output, aside from an attractive trumpet concerto, has been little investigated by performers. He was born just three years after Bach, but on the evidence of the works here he lived in a later and more progressive stylistic universe. The five four-movement mixed-instrument quartets heard here are predecessors of the Classical-period divertimento. The most important practitioner of the form was Telemann, whose "Quadri" Fasch's somewhat resemble. The movements are short, mostly binary-form pieces that develop interest through shifting instrumental effects, most persuasively in the Horn Quartet in F major, FWV N:F3, which is not a miniature horn concerto but a sort of study in horn accompanimental sounds. The bassoon and especially the recorder concertos on the album are something else again: genuine virtuoso works in the vein of Vivaldi's from the last part of his life, when the Baroque opposition...
Read Less
Portions of content provided by Rovi Corporation. © 2024 Rovi Corporation.