Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer (c1670-1746)
Eight Suites of 1698
Colin Booth (harpsichords)
rec. 2021, Westbury sub Mendip, UK
(Also published as Fugue State Records FSRCD026)
SOUNDBOARD RECORDS SBCD222 [74]
J.C.F. Fischer came from Schönfield in Bohemia, receiving his first musical education with the monks there, his talents seeing him become a member of the local court band from which he rose to become Kapellmeister. These Eight Suites were dedicated to his employer Ludwig Wilhelm, and they reflect fashionable French style, Colin Booth citing Lully as an influence in his booklet notes but if you also like the keyboard music of Couperin and Rameau then this music will prove highly attractive. This set is less well-known than the second set of Nine Suites published in 1738, though releases of any of Fischer's music are hardly thick on the ground.
As you might expect, most of the movements of these suites are based on well-known dance forms such as the allemande and courante, but Fischer knows how to tease the ears with intriguing harmonic progressions such as the Praeludium to the Second Suite, which is pregnant with rich suspensions and delayed resolutions. Booth divides his performances between a nice sounding two-manual and single-manual instruments based on contemporary models, and there is a nice consistency of tuning throughout. There are further highly effective contrasts with damped strings in some movements, and a variety of registers used throughout.
Booth writes on Fischer's influence on J.S. Bach and some of the technical aspects of these pieces; in particular going into detail on rhythm. Dance music, while written in notes of equal measure, would conventionally be played with quasi-dotted or 'swing’ rhythm and Booth, I think correctly, plays in this style without overdoing things by double-dotting or accenting too much. You can imagine this music being danced to without any difficulty.
Colin Booth has a fine reputation as a harpsichord player, and I have enjoyed his J.S. Bach Goldberg Variations (review), as did Johan van Veen his Grounds for Pleasure recital of 17th century English music (review). I've had a hunt around for comparison recordings of these suites but came up empty handed. Luc Beauséjour has recorded the Musical Parnassus on the Naxos label (review), and Tony Millán's recording on Brilliant Classics is another source (review), but this set of the Eight Suites (Blumen-Büchlein 1698) is as good as unchallenged in the current catalogues. If you are into unusual Baroque harpsichord repertoire then this well-recorded album is something you will want to own.
Dominy Clements
Published: November 15, 2022
