Friedrich Ernst Fesca

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Friedrich Ernst Fesca

Friedrich Ernst Fesca (born February 15, 1789 in Magdeburg ; † May 24, 1826 in Karlsruhe ) was a German violinist and composer of classical music.

Life

Friedrich Fesca comes from a music-loving family. His father was the Magdeburg market judge Johann Peter August Fesca, who, as a music lover, took an active part in the musical life of his city. His mother was the singer Marianne Podleska, a student of Johann Adam Hiller .

On October 6, 1805 - at the age of 11 - Fesca made her debut as a violin virtuoso in his hometown with a (lost) violin concerto in E minor and subsequently appeared in concerts by the Masonic Lodge there; around the same time he received his first theory lessons from Johann Friedrich Zachariae , and later from Friedrich Adolph Pitterlin (both defining figures in Magdeburg's musical life). Apparently Fesca began composing string quartets at this time; because when Louis Spohr visited Magdeburg on one of his concert tours in 1804 and accepted an invitation to a “music part with Mr. Fesca”, he praised a quartet from Fesca junior: it “has worked very well and shows great talent”.

Fesca studied in Leipzig from 1805 a. a. with the Thomaskantor August Eberhard Müller , who later placed him as a violinist in the Gewandhaus Orchestra . Here he appeared, together with the cellist Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer , in public string quartet recitations , which were still rare at the time. After a brief employment as court musician to Grand Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig von Oldenburg, Fesca was solo violinist of the Kassel court orchestra from 1808 until the end of the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1813 . In 1810/11 the first signs of a lung disease made themselves felt; this illness prevented him from public appearances for almost two years. During this time, among other things, his symphonies 1 and 2. In 1814 he switched to the grand ducal Baden orchestra in Karlsruhe as a violinist, where he became concertmaster the following year. Because of his lung disease, he had to severely restrict his violin playing and in 1821 had to give up completely. He then devoted himself more to his compositional activity until he died in 1826 after a long period of suffering. His last compositions include two overtures (op. 41 and 43), which he composed in 1825.

Fesca married Charlotte Dingelstedt in Kassel in May 1812; Daughter of the horn player Johann Heinrich Dingelstedt; the two had four children, all of them sons. Her second oldest son, Alexander Ernst Fesca (1820–1849) became a composer and also died early of a lung disease.

After Fesca's death, Friedrich Rochlitz wrote an obituary that forms the basis of Fesca's biography.

reception

Fesca was valued by his contemporaries - including Carl Maria von Weber - primarily as a composer of string quartets. No other quartet composer of his time was as frequently reviewed in the leading Allgemeine Musikischen Zeitung as he was. The critics attested Fesca's quartets an elaborate composition technique and inventive thematic-motivic work, rich harmony and the inclusion of virtuoso elements with simultaneous individual character. Fesca's quartets were measured against those of Haydn and Mozart - increasingly also Beethoven - as classical models and against Louis Spohr , George Onslow, and Andreas and Bernhard Romberg as equal contemporaries.

In addition to the string quartets and quintets, Fesca's symphonies, operas and sacred compositions were well received by contemporaries. Performances of his psalm settings can be proven up to the middle of the 19th century and Friedrich Rochlitz said: "In Fesca's quartet music what is most peculiar to him is expressed most clearly; although, in our opinion, the most successful of his sacred compositions are higher.

As with the string quartets, Haydn and Mozart were the standards of what was initially a very diverse repertoire for the symphonies after 1800. It seemed obvious to contemporaries that, with Spohr, ETA Hoffmann, Andreas Romberg and Fesca, a whole series of ambitious composers chose Mozart's Symphony in E flat major, KV 543 as their model, provided that there is not the slightest mention of a "copy." ]: just as a Canova inspired Greece's wonderful relics, and the reflections of which inside produced self-designed, independent works, so the immortalized singer [ie Mozart's] wonderful sounds attract others, and also Mr. F [esca]. One receives the direction of feelings and taste; one chooses the form: and the similar and yet so dissimilar sister is there. " During this time, however, the audience's taste in music and the attitude of critics changed fundamentally as a result of the increasing popularization of Beethoven's symphonies. Many symphonies fell into oblivion when Beethoven's symphonies

"[...] prevailed as an unsurpassable pattern. If the works of these composers were in direct competition with the not yet established creations of Beethoven, the following generation of composers stood, such as Ferdinand Ries (1784–1838), George Onslow (1784–1853) and Friedrich Ernst Fesca (1789–1826), before the problem of developing an individual style without straying too far from the standard set by Beethoven's music; a contemporary reviewer outlined the problem in 1829 as follows:

If these tone poems by other composers come too close to Beethoven's, they are only too easily rejected as imitations; if they are too far away from them, they generally do not appeal. So if the ship does not fall into the Scylla, it falls into the Charybdis.

[...] individual designs and original personal styles [were] not appreciated according to their importance [...]. "

Schubert's Great Symphony in C major became known in 1839; This work, too, changed the public's taste strongly and permanently; Works that were written between 1813 and 1839 were largely forgotten.

Fesca's early death also contributed to the fact that his works were quickly forgotten.

At the end of the 1990s, works by Fesca appeared on CD for the first time: his 3 symphonies and three flute quartets were recorded and published by the classical music label cpo .

Works

Markus Frei-Hauenschild's dissertation contains a complete thematic and bibliographical catalog of works.

Instrumental music

Symphonies

  • 1st Symphony in E flat major, Op. 6 (approx. 1810/11; first printed 1817/18)
  • 2nd Symphony in D major, Op. 10 (c. 1810; first printed 1817/18)
  • 3rd Symphony in D major op.13 (1816; first printed in 1819)

Other orchestral music

  • Andante and Rondo for horn and orchestra in F major op.39 (1825/26)
  • Overture in D major op.41 (1825/26)
  • Overture in C major op. Posth. 43 (1826)

String quartets

  • E flat major, F sharp minor, B flat major op.1 (before 1814; first printed in 1815)
  • B minor, G minor, E major op.2 (before 1814; first printed in 1815)
  • A minor, D major, E flat major op.3 (No. 2 before 1814; first printed in 1816)
  • C minor op.4 (1815 ?; first printed in 1816)
  • F minor, E minor op.7 (1816; first printed in 1817)
  • D minor op.12 (1817 ?; first printed 1818/19)
  • B major op.14 (1819)
  • D major op.34 (1824)
  • C major op.36 (1825)

String quintets

  • D major op.8 (1817)
  • E flat major op.9 (1817)
  • E major op.15 (1829)
  • B flat major op.20 (1821)

Flute quartets

  • Flute Quartet in D major op.37 (1825)
  • Flute Quartet in G major op.38 (1825)
  • Flute quartet in F major op.40 (1825/26)
  • Flute Quartet in D major op.42 (1826)

Other chamber music

  • Flute Quintet in C major, Op. 22 (1820/21)
  • Potpourri for horn and string quartet in F major op.29 (1823/24)
  • Potpourri for violin and string trio in C major op. 6 [a] (1818)
  • Potpourri for violin and string trio in B flat major op.11 (1818)
  • Potpourri for violin and string trio in A major op 23 (1821)

Vocal music

Operas

  • Cantemire op.19 (premiered in Karlsruhe in 1820; first printed in 1822)
  • Omar and Leila op.28 (premiered in Karlsruhe in 1824; first printed in 1824)

Religious music

  • Our Father for soloists (SATB) and choir (SATB) op.18 (1820)
  • The 9th Psalm for Soloists (SATB), Choir (SATB) and Orchestra op.21 (1821)
  • A movement from the 13th Psalm for four voices (SATB) and piano op.25 (1822/23)
  • The 103rd Psalm for four voices (SSAT), choir (SATB) and orchestra op.26 (1823)

Piano songs

  • Lied Der Catharr for voices and piano WoO 6 (1823/24)
  • 6 songs for voice and piano op.5 (1816/17)
  • 6 songs for voice and piano op.17 (1822)
  • 6 songs for voice and piano op.24 (1822)
  • 5 chants for one and two voices and piano op. 27 (1822/23)
  • 6 songs for voice and piano op. 30 (1823/24)
  • 5 songs for voice and piano op.32 (1824)

The duet Soldiers' Farewell Op. 27 No. 1 gained distribution as a counterfactor at the Saale hellem Strande

Other vocal music

  • Aria you exalted heavenly powers for soprano and orchestra, inserted in op.28 (1825)
  • Italian scene for soprano and orchestra op.33 (1825/26)
  • Gesang An die Heilige Caecilia for four voices (SATB) WoO 5 (1823)
  • 4 chants for four voices (SATB) op.16 (1819)
  • Joking table song for four male voices (TTBB) op.31 (1823/24)
  • 6 panel songs for four male voices (TTBB) op.35 (1825)

literature

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ↑ The music critic Friedrich Rochlitz heard and praised the debut.
  2. ↑ Louis Spohr: Memoirs . ed. von Folker Göthel, Tutzing 1968, vol. 1, p. 74. Quoted from Bert Hagels: [1] .
  3. ↑ Bert Hagels in 'Friedrich Ernst Fesca' (booklet for cpo-CD 999 889-2, page 6).
  4. ↑ Recording on cpo-CD 999 889-2 ( NDR Radiophilharmonie , Frank Biermann).
  5. ^ General musical newspaper of August 23, 1826; slightly changed reprint in Friedrich Rochlitz, For Friends of Tonkunst , Vol. 3, 3rd edition, Leipzig 1868.
  6. ↑ Weber's article Die Tondichtweise the concertmaster Fesca in Karlsruhe, along with some remarks about criticism in general , appeared in the Allgemeine musical newspaper on August 19, 1818.
  7. ↑ See the overview in Frei-Hauenschild 1998, p. 183f.
  8. ↑ Cf. the review of the quartet op. 3,3: "[...] the crown, however, is above all due to the masterfully crafted finale" (Allgemeine Musikische Zeitung of June 25, 1817).
  9. ↑ Cf. the review of the quartet op. 12: "With these few notes, the sensible composer is completely sufficient, since he brings them over and over again with the greatest variety in the most varied of shapes and forms." (General musical newspaper of August 23, 1820)
  10. ↑ See the review of the quartet Op. 1.1: "The 2nd part is, as it were, revived, through a striking, but by no means offensive modulation […]" (Allgemeine musical newspaper of March 27, 1816) or Carl Maria von Weber: "It often modulates sharply and quickly, almost like Beethoven "(Allgemeine musical newspaper of August 19, 1818).
  11. ↑ Cf. the review of the quintet op. 8: "[The first violinist] not only has the decisive and most difficult part everywhere - how sure everyone sees the same, but he has [...] the whole and truly individuality of the gentleman. F. to pronounce. " (General musical newspaper of March 27, 1816).
  12. ↑ Cf. the review of a quartet by Joseph Mayseder, who - according to the reviewer - did not succeed in combining the virtuosity presented with substantial composition: "[...] we only had to point out the works of the genre where this is so and the whole world says: that's right - like both Rombergen, Fesca, Spohr. " (General musical newspaper of February 26, 1824).
  13. ↑ See the catalog raisonné in Frei-Hauenschild 1998.
  14. ^ General musical newspaper of August 23, 1826.
  15. ↑ Joachim Bruges, Markus Frei-Hauenschild: Mozart's 'Swan Song'? For the reception of the E-flat major symphony in the early 19th century. In: Mozart's orchestral works and concerts (= Das Mozart-Handbuch. Ed. By Gernot Gruber, in connection with Dieter Borchmeyer, Vol. 1.) Ed. By Joachim Brügge and Claudia M. Knispel. Laaber 2007, pp. 543-547.
  16. ↑ Review of Fesca's first symphony in E flat major op. 6 in the Allgemeine Musikischen Zeitung on June 3, 1818.
  17. ↑ www.bert-hagels.de
  18. ↑ so Hagels in the booklet of the Fesca CD 'Symphonies 2 & 3' (cpo 2001/2004), page 4.
  19. ↑ Frei-Hauenschild 1998, pp. 443-570.
personal data
SURNAME Fesca, Friedrich Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German composer
DATE OF BIRTH February 15, 1789
PLACE OF BIRTH Magdeburg
DATE OF DEATH May 24, 1826
Place of death Karlsruhe