Presents
Friedrich Ernst Fesca
Potpourri No.2 in B flat Major, Op.11 for String Quartet
Friedrich Ernst Fesca (1789-1826) was born in the German town of Magdeburg. He studied piano and violin with several different teachers, including for a short time Ludwig Spohr. By age 16 had already obtained a position as a violinist in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Not long after, he was employed as solo violinist to the Court of Jerome Bonaparte, at that time, King of Westphalia. After this he lived for a while in Vienna where he befriended the famous violinist, Ignaz Schuppanzigh, first violinist of the famous Beethoven Razumovsky String Quartet. His final years were spent working in Karlsruhe along with fellow composer Franz Danzi. He composed in nearly every genre from opera to solo piano works, however, the bulk of his out put was chamber music. Carl Maria von Weber, writing of Fesca’s chamber music, had this to say. “Mr. Fesca is completely master of whatever he undertakes to express. I am fully convinced of his remarkable talent. His works are carefully written, thoroughly elaborated and richly flavored." Fesca was widely hailed as a worthy successor to Haydn and Mozart and his quartets were frequently performed on a regular basis up until the middle of the 19th century when they began to disappear.
In addition to his String Quartets, Fesca wrote three Potpourris for string quartet which were intended to provide chamber music audiences a 'relief' from the heavier fare of regular string quartets. Potpourri No.2 was composed in 1816 and published two years later. In one extended movement, it was also designed for the first violinist of the quartet to show what he could do. It is full of tuneful melodies and contrasting tempi and makes for a pleasant change of pace in a concert program.
Parts: $13.95
