Dr. Konstanze Musketa, president
Ellen Arndt, Genaral Manager and VP

We are indebted to the numerous sponsors of 1997, who made possible the homogeneous concert programs which were able to offer to you. With the fall of 1997 having been quite eventful, we are looking forward to a new year which include a number of concerts and scholarly projects. First on our list is a cantata concert" on 24 April in Zerbst which features the University Chorus Johann Friedrich Reichardt" of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. In addition, on page 3 we are introducing the Fasch Archive which has expanded its holdings considerably. We would also like to thank Mrs. Hilda Seidler, Zerbst, for her efforts regarding two portraits of Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch, a famous son of Zerbst, which are currently decorating the IFG´s Administrative Office. The Conference Report 1997 (Fasch-Studien 6) on Johann Friedrich Fasch at Zerbst" has appeared in print. Brian Clark and Barbara Reul will inform you in our research corner about three new CDs with works by the Zerbst Kapellmeister. The Fasch - in ..."-reports show that our foreign colleagues have become quite interested in the Zerbst Kapellmeister. Friends of Baroque music will be interested to know about the 14th Telemann Festival in Magdeburg from 11 to 16 March 1998 which we highly recommend to you. Last but not least we would like to invite you to attend our annual general meeting on 3 May 1998, 6. p.m., Fasch-Saal, Stadthalle Zerbst.

Barbara Reul

In 1997, one of our members, Frau Hilda Seidler, Zerbst, presented the IFG - on behalf of Herr Dr. Wolfgang Specht, a son of the well-known Archivrat Dr. Reinhold Specht - with an engraving of the famous Zerbst son Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch. This oval picture bears the caption "Schadow del. Riedel se Lip." and "Carl Fasch". Obviously, this is a section of the famous portrait of J. F. Fasch's son by the important sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow (1764-1850). He was the director of the Royal Academy of Arts in Berlin, creating the Quadriga on top of the Brandenburg Gate as well as the Luther monument on the market square in Wittenberg. The engraver was Carl Traugott Riedel (1769-past 1832), and he produced this piece of art in the 19th century. The engraving was restored by staff members of the Gemäldegalerie Dessau and placed into a passepartout. Xerox copies of this engraving and of another one of Schadow's original by Eberhard Siegfried Henne (1759-1828) which the gallery kindly presented to Mrs. Seidler, have now been moved to the IFG´s Administrative Office. They are to be placed in a more deserving and public location soon. More on that at the AGM on 3 May. Special thanks to Dr. Specht and Mrs. Seidler for their efforts.

On Friday, 24 April 1998, 8 p.m., St. Trinitatis Church Zerbst, the Zerbst audience will be in for a special treat: a concert featuring cantatas by Fasch on the occasion of his 310th birthday! The University Chorus "J. F. Reichardt" will be performing two cantatas each by J. F. Fasch and G. Ph. Telemann, respectively, with "Sage mir an" by J. F. Fasch (performing edition: Brian Clark) and "Lasset uns Gott lieben" by G. P. Telemann (performing edition: Brit Reipsch) being premieres.

Works by Johann Friedrich Fasch are being favoured increasingly by our colleagues in England. Vered Dinour who represents the English Chamber Orchestra wrote us an e-mail indicating that this ensemble will be performing vocal and instrumental works by the Zerbst master in spring 1998 on the occasion of a series of "Queen Elizabeth Hall" concerts. The person in-charge for these concerts will be Paul Goodwin who is well-known for his efforts as the conductor of the Academy of Ancient Music Ensemble. Since he a friend of Brian Clark it comes as no surprise that the latter edited Fasch' s Missa brevis in B flat Major for the concert on 14 March 1998. On 20 February 1998, an instrumental work by Fasch will be presented as part of this concert series. [Paul Goodwin and the Academy of Ancient Music will perform a concert in April 1999 on the occasion of the Sixth International Fasch Festival. - The Editor]

In September, November and December of 1997, the IFS offered three musical events tailored to various musical tastes: a substantial choral concert featuring cantatas by Fasch senior and junior, a lecture recital on the topic "Und dann gingen sie flöten..." (lit. "And then they went on to play the flute"; fig. "And then they disappeared into thin air..."), and the traditional Christmas concert. We are indebted to the numerous sponsors who contributed to making these events possible: D. Beythan, H. Brathke, R. Eschrig, Gartenbau G. Genth, Fam. H. Halfmann, S. Hanser, E. Hess, H. Jürgens, F. Mahn; Möhring Frisör GmbH, Augenoptik Riehl, C. Ritter, E. Seidler, Blumenpavillon Spengler, U. Walle, S. Wiegelmann, U. Müller, Physiotherapie Schneider, Dr. B. Reul, Fam. C. Kusch, Fa. Graßhoff, Ingenieurbüro Seelkopf, Statikbüro U. Müller, Rabenapotheke E. Krüger, Früchtehaus Westra, and V. Leps.

Brian Clark, known for his many Fasch editions, also performs on the baroque violin. He informed us that he might be recording a concerto for violin by Fasch for a Scottish recording company, Tayside Sinfonietta. The concerto in question would be the one for solo violin, 2 oboes, 2 flutes, strings and B.c. which had been edited for Möseler-Verlag by Prof. Gottfried Küntzel, one of the most significant Fasch scholars of the 20th century.

I What does the designation "Fasch Archive" mean?

• The Fasch Archive Zerbst which includes a reference library functions as a centre for research, information and documentation. The staff archive records, documents, and does research on materials of all sorts pertaining to J. F. Fasch and his son Carl Friedrich Christian - microfilms and/or paper copies of musical sources, textbooks, primary and secondary literature, editions of musical works, audio-visual media, recordings, photographs, portraits, engraving, etc. In August 1997, we moved into the City Archive Zerbst located at the Schloßfreiheit which now houses our reference library. We encourage users to come and visit us since no material can be taken outside the archive [The staff does make photocopies of manuscripts upon request, if accompanied by letter indicating permission of the respective library/archive. Also, let the Administrative Office know in advance when you are planning to drop by, preferably by telephone/fax/e-mail - The Editor]

II How does the Fasch Archive work?

• Among the various tasks to which the staff of the Fasch Archive has to attend, the most interesting is doing research on the work and life of both J. F. Fasch and his son Carl Friedrich Christian: researching sources and providing answers to scholarly questions on their biographies, social environments and musical outputs, on performance practice and reception. Our staff also gives lectures, publishes, and organizes local concerts. In addition, a special software program for scholarly libraries will facilitate recording and cataloguing items and speed up searching for and finding any requested items.

III What type of holdings do we have at the Fasch Archive?

• The Fasch Archive is proud to announce that since the beginning of 1998 almost all manuscripts and autographs of works by Fasch have been acquired either on microfilm or as paper copies. Most of the sources come from the Sächsische Landesbibliothek/Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek Dresden (we would like to thank Dr. Karl Wilhelm Geck for his co-operation) and from the Hessische Landes- und Hochschulbibliothek Darmstadt (we are indebted to Dr. Oswald Bill). New sources from Lund (Sweden) and Heidelberg (Musikwissenschaftliches Seminar) have also been purchased. All in all, we have ca. 380 manuscripst. Secondary material on Fasch (Conference Proceedings, articles, dissertations, etc.) as well as CD recordings and live recordings of concerts on cassette as well as videos of previous scholarly conferences complete the collection.

IV New editions and CD recordings

• In addition to music manuscripts we also purchased a number of editions last year, e.g. from the Molinari Verlag in Regensburg, King`s Music, Huntingdon/Great Britain, plus almost 40 CDs featuring works by Fasch and his contemporaries. Feel free to provide us with complimentary copies of editions, CDs, scholarly literature, concert recordings, etc.!

to Dr. Nigel Springthorpe, Welwyn Garden City on receiving his Ph.D.! He passed his defense in December 1997 at the University of Surrey, GB. His dissertation examined the Zerbst Passion Tradition and Composers of Passion Music Associate with the Court of Anhalt-Zerbst. WIR GRATULIEREN!

will perform at the following venues in 1998: 16 February, Gewandhaus; 19 February, Ploen ("Telemann's baptism"); 26 April, Dresden (Lukas-Kirche, J. S. Bach' s St. John Passion); June 1998, Handel Festival Halle; 14 August, Bayreuth (festive concert featuring Franconian Baroque music, Markgräfliches Theater).

Dr. Oswald Bill, Hessische Landes- und Hochschulbibliothek Darmstadt, drew our attention to Italian bassoonist Paolo Tognon. The latter had who co-initiated the recording of the two CDs which Brian Clark reviews on page 4. Asked by the IFG how he had "discovered" Fasch Tognon answered that Fasch' s chamber music (especially his concertos for bassoon and trio sonatas) had kindled his interest. A research trip to Darmstadt had been the final incentive to get in touch with the recording company DYNAMIC. Much to Tognon' s delight, they were quite interest in a recording of works by Fasch. We look forward to many more CDs!

Then send a letter/e-mail/fax to the IFS's Administrative Office. The Fasch Archive staff will be happy to provide you with lists of edited/recorded works by the Zerbst master. If you are interested in previously unpublished works, do contact us as well.

Three New Fasch CDs

• DYNAMIC CDs 199. J. F. Fasch: Concerto in C for bassoon and strings, Symphonia in G Major; J. C. Graupner: Concerti in c and G for bassoon and strings, Suite in G for flute, bassoon and strings. Paolo Tognon (Bassoon), Pàl Németh (flute); Capella Savaria, Dir. Pàl Németh, 1997.

  DYNAMIC CD 201. J. F. Fasch: Concerto in A for violin and strings; Concerto in G for flute, oboe and strings, Concerto in C for oboe, two violins and continuo, Suites in e and B. Allessandro Bares (violine), Giuseppe Nalin (oboe), Ermanno Giacomel (flute), Ensemble Barocco Padovano Sans Souci, Dir. Aldo Fiorentin, 1997.

  These two discs reveal an increasing interest in the works of Johann Friedrich Fasch. Both groups use period instruments and, in the latter case, a period setting, which is slightly problematic in that the empty grand chamber is too clean acoustically so every slight discrepancy between players is picked up by the microphones. The Capella Savaria disc is interesting because it allows a direct comparison of the styles of Fasch and his mentor Graupner in a way which has hitherto been impossible. Paolo Tognon is a fine bassoonist but even he finds some of the virtuoso passagework tricky. The Paduan disc features first-time recordings of all but one of the works (the flute/oboe concerto) and is therefore doubly welcome. Both sets of booklet notes are unfortunately based on rather dated information, the Paduan note even says "Bis heute kam es noch zu keinem Arbeitsprojekt, um dieser Persönlichkeit und ihrer umfangreichen Produktion gerecht zu werden." ("To date, no research project has been initiated which would do justice to his persona and his numerous compositions"). [As is obvious from the article "Fasch - in Italy" above, Mr. Tognon now knows all about the existence of the IFG and will - we hope - spread the word! The editor]

  Brian Clark, Dundee, Scotland 

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  ESS.A.Y CD 1041. J. F. Fasch: Three Suites for Orchestra: Suite in D Major (No. 1), Suite in B flat Major, Suite in D Major (No. 2), Pro Musica Kiev, Dir. Richard Kapp, 1995.

• This CD on authentic instruments closes an important gap in the list of recorded pieces by the Zerbst Kapellmeister, since three overture suites edited by Heather Platt are being "premiered" (FYI: Platt gave a paper on the overture suites at the International Scholarly Conference which took place on the occasion of the 3rd International Fasch Festival in April 1993). The CD offers an ideal "cross-section" of Fasch' s overture output, with the ensemble performing one suite each from his early, middle and late period. Intonation problems which are still obvious in the first suite in D Major have disappeared in the last suite in D Major (here, the oboes and bassoon go hand in hand). Following Richard Kapp' s sensitive lead, the ensemble improves considerably towards the end, i.e. the final work featured on the CD, and obviously had a lot of fun when playing Fasch' s dance-like, uplifting music. Overture suites such as these were most likely performed as background music while the ducal family of Anhalt-Zerbst was having dinner, or on the occasion of festive concerts at the residence, with performers from out-of-town (e.g. from Gotha, Weißenfels and Leipzig) frequently participating.

  Barbara Reul, Zerbst

Johann Friedrich Fasch und sein Wirken für Zerbst/Johann Friedrich Fasch at Zerbst. Bericht über die Internationale Wissenschaftliche Konferenz am 18. und 19. April 1997 im Rahmen der 5. Internationalen Fasch-Festtage in Zerbst/Report on the International Scholarly Conference on 18 and 19 April 1997 on the occasion of the Fifth Internation Fasch Festival in Zerbst. Hrsg. von der Internationalen Fasch-Gesellschaft e. V. [Red. Konstanze Musketa und Barbara M. Reul]/Ed. by the International Fasch-Gesellschaft e. V. [Eds. Konstanze Musketa and Barbara M. Reul]. Dessau: Anhaltische Verlagsgesellschaft, 1997 (Fasch-Studien; 6). ISBN 3-910192 62-9.

In this volume you will find eleven papers in German and ten in English on the conference topic, contributed by musicologists from all over the world. An abstract in the other" conference language has been appended to each article; a bibliography and two indeces (names/persons, musical works) can be found at the end of the volume.

• ... that you can listen to samples from the two Fasch CDs which the University Chorus "J. F. Reichardt" Halle-Wittenberg by visiting our web site? Choose the English version of our website at: http://www.brise-sachsen-anhalt.de/~fasch, link "CDs"..
• ... that our web site seems to be paying off since more and more requests reach us as foreign musicologists and performers are beginning to note our presence on the web? Richard Kapp (director of PRO MUSICA KIEV) sent us an e-mail asking to include his CD in our lists of CDs available.