Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer (some authorities use
the spelling Johann Kasper Ferdinand Fischer: 1656 --
1746) was a German Baroque composer. Johann Nikolaus
Forkel ranked Fischer as one of the best composers for
keyboard of his day, however, partly due to the rarity
of surviving copies of his music, his music is rarely
heard today.
Fischer seems to have been of Bohemian origin, possibly
born at Schönfeld, but details about his life are
sketchy. The first record of his existence is...(+)
Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer (some authorities use
the spelling Johann Kasper Ferdinand Fischer: 1656 --
1746) was a German Baroque composer. Johann Nikolaus
Forkel ranked Fischer as one of the best composers for
keyboard of his day, however, partly due to the rarity
of surviving copies of his music, his music is rarely
heard today.
Fischer seems to have been of Bohemian origin, possibly
born at Schönfeld, but details about his life are
sketchy. The first record of his existence is found in
the mid-1690s: by 1695 he was Kapellmeister to Ludwig
Wilhelm of Baden, and he may have remained with the
court until his death in Rastatt.
Much of Fischer's music shows the influence of the
French Baroque style, exemplified by Jean Baptiste
Lully, and he was responsible for bringing the French
influence to German music. Fischer's harpsichord suites
updated the standard Froberger model (Allemande -
Courante - Sarabande - Gigue); he was also one of the
first composers to apply the principles of the
orchestral suite to the harpsichord, replacing the
standard French ouverture with an unmeasured prelude.
Both Bach and Handel knew Fischer's work and sometimes
borrowed from it.
Although originally written for Organ, I created this
arrangement for Flute Quartet (3 Flutes & Alto Flute).