Fasch: Overture Symphonies

Featuring

Ludger Rémy
Les Amis de Philippe
Johann Friedrich Fasch

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Recording & Production

This album was recorded in the baroque Civic Center of Zerbst, which was formerly the riding arena of the Princes of Anhalt-Zerbst.

Performer Biography

Ludger Rémy, the conductor and harpsichordist, was a professor of Early Music in Dresden and has received numerous awards for his many CD recordings.

Compositional Technique

Fasch's concertos were innovative, pointing to the future in their formal, structural, and tonal aspects, and their virtuosic demands, especially for wind instruments.

Critical Reception

The Dresden court ensemble, led by Johann Georg Pisendel, likely did not perform Fasch's richly orchestrated 'Overture Symphonies' due to a lack of duplicate parts.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Fasch's 'Overture Symphonies' are his unique contribution to the 'mixed style,' intentionally blending French and Italian stylistic elements to create a new German quality.

Composition History

The term 'Overture Symphony' describes a new work type created by Fasch, combining the French overture with the Italian sinfonia, of which only eight examples survive.

Composer Biography

Johann Friedrich Fasch, the composer, was a highly talented musical autodidact who became court chapel master in Zerbst in 1722, a position he held until his death in 1758.