This album, titled 'Grand Tour', is a musical journey tracing an 18th-century route from Freiburg to Berlin, stopping at various cities where the featured composers worked.
Composer Biography
Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer, a Kapellmeister (music director), composer, and singing teacher, worked for Ludwig Wilhelm, Margrave of Baden-Baden, in Rastatt.
Composer Biography
Johann Christoph Pez, an Oberkapellmeister (chief music director) in Stuttgart, studied in Rome where he met Arcangelo Corelli, considered the originator of the concerto grosso.
Historical Context
In the 17th and 18th centuries, powerful rulers in the German-speaking lands, inspired by Louis XIV of France, built magnificent palaces and established Hofkapellen (court orchestras) to display their power.
Compositional Technique
Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer's suite collection, 'Le journal du Printemps', shows strong influence from Jean-Baptiste Lully, a French-Italian master, particularly in its movement structure and five-part scoring.
Composer Biography
Johann Sigismund Kusser, a predecessor of Pez as Kapellmeister in Stuttgart, likely studied with Jean-Baptiste Lully in Paris between 1674 and 1680.
Compositional Technique
Pez's 'Concerto Pastorale' demonstrates southern European influence through its Italian movement names like 'aria' and 'passacaglia', and the concertante interplay between strings and solo flutes.
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