6 Trio Sonatas Op. 8 Vol.1

SKU: HH.HH587-FSP

ISBN 9790708213024.

Fisher’s Op. 2 set is externally very similar to its Op. 1 predecessor in its combinations of movement types and musical language, but now has an added spaciousness and audacity born of greater maturity. Everything is wonderfully blended: the fugal movements are melodious; the ‘singing allegros’ are harmonically rich and contrapuntally charged; the dance-like movements, full of happy surprises, fizz and purr. Op. 2 appeared in print only in the year following Fisher’s death. Surprisingly in the circumstances, the level of accuracy in the engraved parts matched the high standard set by Op. 1. This would have gratified the composer, who was so evidently a perfectionist in all he undertook.

SKU: HH.HH364-FSP

ISBN 9790708092940.

Partly on account of their instrumentation, the Op. 18 sonatas are closely modelled on Corelli's Opp. 1aEUR4, both in terms of style and violin technique. Each consists of four or five movements, at least one being a dance; most of the slow movements feature the familiar Corellian walking bass, while one of the fast movements in each sonata is fugal or based on imitative entries. In spite of their adherence to Italian models, however, the sonatas do display certain French elements, along with characteristics of Boismortier's individual style. The harmonic language is particularly rich, with a marked predilection for chords of the seventh, and two of the sonatas feature the composer's own version of a (loosely constructed) double fugue.

SKU: J1.4166

8.26 x 11.69 inches.

Trio Sonata F Major, op. 16-3 / Trio Sonata B-flat Major, Op. 16-4.

SKU: HH.HH584-FSP

ISBN 9790708185994.

Stanley Sadie’s opinion, expressed in 1963, that the two of the twelve trio sonatas by Frederick Ernest Fisher(1711/12–1760), divided equally between Op. 1 (c.1751) and Op. 2 (c.1761), were ‘among the finest of their time’ while some of the others were ‘remarkably inventive and original’ almost sells this composer short. Every single one of these works, scored for two violins, cello and harpsichord, is masterly and deserves a permanent place in the repertoire. Born in or near Kassel, Fisher spent several years in Holland, teaching music from 1741 to 1745 at the university of Leiden, before emigrating to England. After spending about two years in London he settled permanently in Cambridge, where he taught music to members of the local music society. His Op. 1 set, dedicated to the same society, epitomizes the ‘social’ character of the trio sonata genre, where individual virtuosity yields its place to amicable interaction between the players. Fisher was a cellist as well as a violinist, and this background is brought out by the rare eloquence of his bass lines. The diversity of movement types in these ordinarily three-movement sonatas is very attractive. They include powerful fugues, expansive movements in sonata form, languorous middle movements reminiscent of those in operatic overtures and a selection of dance movements, all of which mix baroque, galant and classical elements in a convincing synthesis.