Fischer seems to have been of 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 Suite s 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.
Many compositions by Fischer were published during his lifetime. These published pieces include:
- ''Le journal du printemps'' (1695), a collection of five orchestral suites (''ouvertures'') for strings and two trumpets. Each suite begins with an introductory Ouverture and ends with a Chaconne or a Passacaglia . ''Le Journal du printemps'' and Georg Muffat 's ''Florilegium'' (published the same year) were the first collections of orchestral suites published in Germany.
- ''Pièces de Clavessin'' (1696), several harpsichord suites. The suites explore different styles and genres: for instance, the 5th one consists of an aria and nine variations, and the 8th only includes a prelude and a chaconne. This collection was later expanded by Fischer and the new version was published in 1698 under the title ''Musicalisches Blumen-Büschlein''.
- ''Vesperae seu Psalmi vespertini'' (1701), a collection of sacred music.
- '' Ariadne Musica '' (also known as ''Ariadne musica Neo-organoedum'', 1702). This is a collection of organ pieces (most written for Manual s only or have optional Pedal ) in two parts:
- ---The first part contains twenty preludes and Fugue s for Organ in nineteen different Key s and one in the Phrygian Mode based on E. It is considered a significant precursor to Johann Sebastian Bach 's '' The Well-Tempered Clavier '' - not only Bach held Fischer's work in high regard, but he also borrowed a subject from the E major fugue of ''Ariadne musica'' for his E major fugue from the second book of the WTC.
- ---The second part contains five Ricercar s based on Chorale melodies.
- ''Lytaniae Lauretanae VII'' (1711), a collection of scared music.
- ''Blumen-Strauss'' (before 1736), a collection of organ pieces.
- ''Musikalischer Parnassus'' (''Musical Parnassus '', c. 1738), nine dance suites for harpsichord, each named after one of the Muse s. The suites represent a fusion of German and French styles, updating the old Froberger model by inserting many additional movements, making use of the latest dance forms of the time and using new ideas such as double Minuet s and double Rigaudon s. As a result, some of the suites include as many as nine parts and are quite long. The longest movement of all in the ''Musikalischer Parnassus'' and the longest movement by Fischer still extant is the Passacaglia from the ''Uranie'' suite, which some experts believe may recount the tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice (source: comments made by harpsichordist William Porter during a 23 April 2006 performance of the ''Uranie'' suite at the Yale Collection of Musical Instruments).
Evidence exists of numerous lost works, among them an Opera in Italian style, miscellaneous Chamber Works , court music and keyboard pieces.
- Walter, Rudolf. ''Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer, Hofkapellmeister der Markgrafen von Baden (Quellen und Studien zur Musikgeschichte von der Antike bis in die Gegenwart)'', Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang (1990) ISBN 3820499768
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