An important contemporary of J. S. Bach, Fasch studied at Leipzig University.
He failed to obtain the position of Cantor at the choir school of St Thomas,
for which his friend Telemann was at first preferred and to which Bach was finally
appointed, and served from 1722 as...
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An important contemporary of J. S. Bach, Fasch studied at Leipzig University.
He failed to obtain the position of Cantor at the choir school of St Thomas,
for which his friend Telemann was at first preferred and to which Bach was finally
appointed, and served from 1722 as Kapellmeister at Zerbst. He enjoyed a considerable
reputation in his own time and his music was both admired and transcribed by
Bach, whose posthumous fame overshadowed him.
Church Music
Fasch's church music includes twelve cycles of church cantatas, psalm-settings
and Masses.
Instrumental Music
Fasch was equally prolific as a composer of instrumental music. He wrote some
ninety overture-suites, 68 concertos, nineteen symphonies and eighteen trio
sonatas. Much of his work shows a development of instrumental style from the
three-movement concerto of Vivaldi to the early classical.