Concertos for Various Instruments

Fasch: Concertos For Various Instrument / Il Gardellino, Composer: Johann Friedrich Fasch, Orchestra/Ensemble: Il Gardellino, Number of Discs: 1. Johann Friedrich Fasch was by all accounts a composer of considerable importance, a good friend of Telemann, and a man whose scores J. S. Bach sought out. Lack of publication is responsible for the eclipse of his reputation and music. Like Graupner in Hesse-Darmstadt, Fasch in Zerbst served a court that insisted on full ownership in perpetuity over the works he composed for it. Though much of his sacred music was lost during Allied bombing raids in 1945, Fasch's instrumental music has fared better. The Zerbst court library is extant and accessible, while the scores Fasch sent to his friends are now held at state and university libraries in Dresden and Darmstadt. The music heard here is sophisticated, at times experimental in it's instrumental combinations and sinfonia concertante-like episodes. The concertos are all in three movements (save for one, a Concerto in G in four movements), but they explore a range of individual solutions to the division between multiple soloists and ritornello. The music is always engaging, frequently irregular in it's melodic and harmonic construction, and well worth more than one hearing. The performances are equally good. Fans of Il Gardellino will know what to expect: clear and varied textures, sensuous sound, unfussy but scholarly performances with much attention paid to phrasing. The core group of six musicians is joined by 14 others, providing a broad range of dynamics and colors. I'm especially pleased that they don't push slow movements, but allow them to form sections of proper repose between two considerably faster movements. With excellent sound, this is definitely a keeper. - FANFARE: Barry Brenesal