
Description
Sancti Michaelis Archangeli (and) Missa Sancti Josephi.
by J. Fischer
German manuscript on paper.
Rastatt (?) c. 1725.
Imperial folio.
Elaborate liturgical Baroque manuscript on heavy laid paper.
[183] ??pp., of which 58 double pages are written with square musical notation with Latin parts.
The blank pages with musical notations in black ink.
Beautiful original hand tooled pigskin binding over wooden boards , spine with raised bands and manuscript title
Size 7 1/4 by 9 1/2 inches
Very good condition
Writings in German
J.C.F. Fischer (c. 1670–1746) was a salaried court official and Kapellmeister in the service of the Margraves of Baden from 1690, initially in Schlackenwerth (Bohemia), and later, presumably after 1716, in the new residence in Rastatt. He directed the court orchestra, wrote operas in the Venetian style (1721), and provided the court with his own compositions for banquets, serenades, comedies, and other occasions (festival and stage works have not survived). The fact that his successor was appointed in 1747 suggests that Fischer remained in office until the very end and actually died only in 1746.
Fischer was not only one of the "strongest pianists of his time" (EL Gerber, Neues Tonkunstlerlexikon, 1812), but also one of the most distinguished German instrumental composers around 1700.
His main achievements lie in the fields of organ and keyboard music. F. made significant contributions to the genre of the keyboard suite. He usually introduced his cycles with weighty preludes and structured the suites similarly to J.S. Bach later did. His harmony is often bold, and his contrapuntal writing is highly skillful. Throughout, he demonstrates his mastery of the short form. Bach and Handel quoted F.'s suite movements several times in their own works.
His "Ariadne musica" served as the direct model for Bach's "Well-Tempered Clavier."
The work contains 20 short preludes and fugues in various keys for use in church services and largely utilizes the equal temperament introduced by A. Werckmeister
- (L. Hoffmann-Erbrecht in NDB). -
The exceptionally large format of the manuscript, neatly written in black ink, possibly by Fischer himself, and the beautiful binding suggest that it was produced for the Rastatt Court Church, built between 1720 and 1723
Reserve: $2,499.00
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1725 MUSICAL MANUSCRIPT antique AMAZING PIGSKIN BOUND IMPERIAL FOLIO
Estimate $3,000-$3,500
Starting Price
$1,200
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Ink of Ages: 15th-19th Century Antique Books
Feb 12, 2026 9:00 AM ESTNew York, NY, United States
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