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Scan 63
Dictionary of music and musicians, 1908
13 lines. Read by computer on 5 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1FISCHER
3Helden Musik, über die 1704 bei Hochstadt geschehener Schlacht, worin die Violine der Marlborough, und die Hoboe der Tallard verstellen.' It is interesting to note that Fischer wrote and performed Violin pieces in which the device of special tunings (Scordatura), found in latter days in the works of Paganini and others, was occasionally employed. These Umstimmungen, as the Germans call them, are even found in pieces written by him for the viola, an instrument for which he had a marked predilection.
5W. W. C.
7FISCHER, JOHANN CASPAR FERDINAND, an almost totally forgotten predecessor and immediate forerunner of Handel and Bach in clavier and organ music, was born some time between 1660 and 1670, and died about 1738 (according to Ernst v. Werra, see below). Of his life nothing further is known but that he was capellmeister to the Markgraf Ludwig of Baden at the Schloss Schlackenwerth in Bohemia. Markgraf Ludwig had been obliged to take up his residence at this Bohemian Schloss in consequence of the destruction of the Residenz at Baden by the French in 1688. Fischer's op. 1 appeared at Augsburg in 1695 with the title Le Journal du Printemps consistant en Airs et Ballets à 5 Parties et les Trompettes à plaisir. In 1696, op. 2, 'Les Pièces de Clavessin,' appeared at Schlackenwerth, but was republished at Augsburg in 1698 with the title Musica-lisches Blumen-Büschelein, etc. This work consists of eight short suites for clavier, each introduced by a prelude. Fischer, however, does not adhere to the regular order of dance-forms in the suite as established by Froberger, viz., Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue, but follows the newer French fashion in substituting, ad libitum, Gavottes, Menuets, Bourrées, Passe-pieds, etc. Suite v. consists only of a prelude and aria with eight variations. Suite viii. consists of prelude with chaconne only. In 1701 appeared op. 3, Vesper Psalms a 8 with ad libitum accompaniment of two violins and basso continuo for organ and violone. In 1702 appeared Fischer's op. 4 (republished in 1715 without opus number) entitled 'Ariadne Musica Neo-Organoedum,' etc. This work is a direct foreshadowing of Das wohltemperirte Clavier. Its title points it out as intended to be a clue to budding organists to guide them through the mazes of all the newer modern keys, major and minor. It consists of twenty preludes and fugues in as many different keys, only the key of E minor occurs twice, once without signature, as if in the Phrygian mode, and then with two sharps as if in the Dorian. Of the twenty-four modern keys only five are unrepresented, C sharp and F sharp major, E flat minor, B flat minor, and G sharp minor. C sharp minor and F sharp minor are both written with four sharp signature, B minor with three sharps, A flat with three flats, etc. Both preludes and fugues are very short, and the pedals are only required for the Preludes. Many of the themes have a remarkable resemblance to those afterwards made use of by Bach. The E major fugue for example begins with precisely the same theme alla breve as that in the second part of Das wohltemperirte Clavier. See also the beginning of the F major fugue. Max Seiffert points out many other striking resemblances (Geschichte der Klavier-Musik, Bd. 1). To these preludes and fugues the composer has subjoined five ricercari on the church melodies: 'Ave Maria klare,' 'Der Tag der ist so Freudenreich,' 'Da Jesus an dem Kreuze stund,' 'Christ ist Erstanden,' and 'Komm Heiliger Geist.' Two other works of Fischer appeared later without date, one entitled 'Musicalischer Parnassus,' consisting of a series of nine suites for clavier named after the Nine Muses. These suites are of a more solid German character, with fewer concessions to French taste in the use of agrémens. The remaining work is entitled Blumenstrauß, and would seem to have been published after Fischer's death. It is arranged according to the eight Church Tones, each tone having a prelude followed by eight very short fugues, concluding with a finale. Although no mention is made of the fact, it would seem as if these pieces were intended to accompany the plain-song singing of the Magnificat in the fashion which became common in the 17th century; that is to say, while in the 16th century it was usual to sing alternate verses of the Magnificat in vocal harmony, with the other verses sung to the simple plain-song, in the 17th century the custom grew up for the organist to substitute his own playing in place of the vocal harmony of the alternate verses. Very dignified examples of this kind of work may be seen in Frescobaldi's Fiori Musicali, 1635, also in Scheidt's Tabulatura Nova, 1624. Pachelbel also left some very florid and less ecclesiastical specimens of these Organ Magnificats. The short movements of Fischer hold a right mean between the earlier simplicity and the later more florid style, and although they have so little development, the themes themselves and the modulations have much of the spirit of Bach in them. It only remains to mention that the clavier and organ works of Fischer have been recently republished in one volume by Ernst von Werra, and the orchestral work Le Journal des Printemps in Band x. of the Denkmäler der deutschen Tonkunst, 1902. one of two readings
8FISCHER, JOHANN CASPAR FERDINAND, an almost totally forgotten predecessor and immediate forerunner of Handel and Bach in clavier and organ music, was born some time between 1660 and 1670, and died about 1738 (according to Ernst v. Werra, see below). Of his life nothing further is known but that he was capellmeister to the Markgraf Ludwig of Baden at the Schloss Schlackenwerth in Bohemia. Markgraf Ludwig had been obliged to take up his residence at this Bohemian Schloss in consequence of the destruction of the Residenz at Baden by the French in 1688. Fischer's op. 1 appeared at Augsburg in 1695 with the title Le Journal du Printemps consistant en Airs et Balets à 5 Parties et les Trompettes à plaisir. In 1696, op. 2, 'Les Pièces de Clavessin,' appeared at Schlackenwerth, but was republished at Augsburg in 1698 with the title Musica-lisches Blumen-Büschelein, etc. This work consists of eight short suites for clavier, each introduced by a prelude. Fischer, however, does not adhere to the regular order of dance-forms in the suite as established by Froberger, viz., Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue, but follows the newer French fashion in substituting, ad libitum, Gavottes, Menuets, Bourrées, Passe-pieds, etc. Suite v. consists only of a prelude and aria with eight variations. Suite viii. consists of prelude with chaconne only. In 1701 appeared op. 3, Vesper Psalms a 8 with ad libitum accompaniment of two violins and basso continuo for organ and violone. In 1702 appeared Fischer's op. 4 (republished in 1715 without opus number) entitled 'Ariadne Musica Neo-Organoedum,' etc. This work is a direct foreshadowing of Das wohltemperirte Clavier. Its title points it out as intended to be a clue to budding organists to guide them through the mazes of all the newer modern keys, major and minor. It consists of twenty preludes and fugues in as many different keys, only the key of E minor occurs twice, once without signature, as if in the Phrygian mode, and then with two sharps as if in the Dorian. Of the twenty-four modern keys only five are unrepresented, C sharp and F sharp major, E flat minor, B flat minor, and G sharp minor. C sharp minor and F sharp minor are both written with four sharp signature, B minor with three sharps, A flat with three flats, etc. Both preludes and fugues are very short, and the pedals are only required for the Preludes. Many of the themes have a remarkable resemblance to those afterwards made use of by Bach. The E major fugue for example begins with precisely the same theme alla breve as that in the second part of Das wohltemperirte Clavier. See also the beginning of the F major fugue. Max Seiffert points out many other striking resemblances (Geschichte der Klavier-Musik, Bd. 1). To these preludes and fugues the composer has subjoined five ricercari on the church melodies: 'Ave Maria klare,' 'Der Tag der ist so Freudenreich,' 'Da Jesus an dem Kreuze stund,' 'Christ ist Erstanden,' and 'Komm Heiliger Geist.' Two other works of Fischer appeared later without date, one entitled 'Musicalischer Parnassus,' consisting of a series of nine suites for clavier named after the Nine Muses. These suites are of a more solid German character, with fewer concessions to French taste in the use of agrémens. The remaining work is entitled Blumenstrauß, and would seem to have been published after Fischer's death. It is arranged according to the eight Church Tones, each tone having a prelude followed by eight very short fugues, concluding with a finale. Although no mention is made of the fact, it would seem as if these pieces were intended to accompany the plain-song singing of the Magnificat in the fashion which became common in the 17th century; that is to say, while in the 16th century it was usual to sing alternate verses of the Magnificat in vocal harmony, with the other verses sung to the simple plain-song, in the 17th century the custom grew up for the organist to substitute his own playing in place of the vocal harmony of the alternate verses. Very dignified examples of this kind of work may be seen in Frescobaldi's Fiori Musicali, 1635, also in Scheidt's Tabulatura Nova, 1624. Pachelbel also left some very florid and less ecclesiastical specimens of these Organ Magnificats. The short movements of Fischer hold a right mean between the earlier simplicity and the later more florid style, and although they have so little development, the themes themselves and the modulations have much of the spirit of Bach in them. It only remains to mention that the clavier and organ works of Fischer have been recently republished in one volume by Ernst von Werra, and the orchestral work Le Journal des Printemps in Band x. of the Denkmäler der deutschen Tonkunst, 1902. one of two readings
10J. R. M.
12FISCHER, JOHANN CHRISTIAN, distinguished oboist, born 1733 at Freiburg (Breisgau), was for some years in the court band at Dresden from 1764 to about 1771, then in the service of Frederick the Great, and after a successful concert tour by Mannheim, Holland, and Paris, came to London, and made his first appearance at the Thatched House, June 2, 1768; J. C. Bach playing the 'pianoforte' for the first time at the same concert. Fischer was for many
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