FASCH, Johann Friedrich – All Classical Research

Born in Buttelstädt, near Weimar, April 15, 1688
Died in Zerbst, Dec 5, 1758

Fasch was a contemporary of Bach who studied in Leipzig and spent most of his career at the court of Anhalt-Zerbst, writing sacred music for the court chapel and instrumental music to be performed in the palace for his aristocratic employers.
In the penultimate year of his life, Fasch wrote an autobiography of his early life (Lebenslauf).
- One of the interesting things we learn from this document is that as a student at the University of Leipzig, he could not afford composition lessons, so he taught himself by studying the works of Telemann (who also lived in Leipzig).
- Fasch called Telemann a “most beloved” friend.¹

Gottfried Küntzel and Barbara M. Reul, “Fasch, Johann Friedrich,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed September 26, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000009346.