Johann Fux

[Mozart]

Would anyone like to join me for some Fux? Fux can be quite enjoyable. Nothing is more pleasant than Fux on a cold winter night.

[Que]

Fux can be quite enjoyable.

Agreed. 
I got my first Fux a while ago, see my post on the German Baroque thread.



Q

[Harry]

Have quite a few recordings with music from Fux...
Elias, what about the parcel?

[Don]

The disc below is my favorite Fux recording.  In addition to the excellent and spiritually uplifting music, the sonics are fabulous and performances glorious.

[SonicMan46]

Thought that I'd reactivate this thread on Fux - as I was reading about Christoph Graupner recently, the name of Fux arose and to my amazement in checking my collection I had nothing by this late Baroque composer.  So below is a brief summary (condensed from HERE) of his life, mention of his famous book on counterpoint, and a link to his compositional catalog.

I also just ordered my first two Fux CDs from Amazon, one mentioned by Don - Dave

Johann Joseph Fux (c. 1660–1741) was an Austrian composer, musical theorist and pedagogue of the late Baroque era. He is most famous as the author of Gradus ad Parnassum, a treatise on counterpoint; almost all modern courses on Renaissance counterpoint are indebted in some degree to this work by Fux. Amazingly, the book is still in print - $14 for a paperback edition on Amazon!

In the 1680s he was organist at St. Moritz in Ingolstadt, and likely made a trip to Italy during this period and came under the influence of Corelli et al.  By the 1690s, he was in Vienna and impressed the emperor, Leopold I who hired him as court composer in 1698.  He again travelled to Italy and influence many composers through the book above published in 1725 - e.g. Haydn learned counterpoint by reading it and Mozart had an annotated copy.

Fux wrote much church music, oratorios, operas, partitas & overtures, and some keyboard works - his compositions were categorized by Ludwig Köchel (who, of course, also did the first Mozart catalog) - listing HERE, which extends to K405.

ADDENDUM: Note that the K numbers are the first catalog of Fux's works - quoted from a review ".....anyone turning to the music of Johann Joseph Fux faces a considerably more confusing situation involving no fewer than four different numbering systems. Standard are K numbers, after the same Ludwig Köchel to whom we owe the first Mozart catalog. But Köchel's catalog was first published in 1872, since when it has been supplemented by many works that have later come to light. Many of these bear either L (after A. Leiss, 1947) or E numbers, the last the result of the work of H. Federhofer and F. W. Riedel published in 1959, and 1964. More recent still are works bearing N numbers assigned by T. Hochrader."

   

[SonicMan46]

Well, exploring Amazon this afternoon and reading a lot of Fanfare reviews, I decided to order some more Fux dedicated to his instrumental works - added the three below - attached is a text file of reviews of each of these CDs, for those interested - Dave

   

[Gurn Blanston]

Dave,

Thanks for bringing Fux to the forefront again. This thread is a real old-timer!

I have some single Fuxian works mixed in on various Austrian mass music disks. Right now, the only all-Fux disk I have is this one:



I will doubtless pick up the Ars Antiqua disk, you should really like that one, they are outstanding musicians. I have this one of music by Werner, Haydn's predecessor at Eisenstadt:



Very commendable, which is why I know I will like their Fux, too! 

[SonicMan46]

Dave,

Thanks for bringing Fux to the forefront again. This thread is a real old-timer!

I have some single Fuxian works mixed in on various Austrian mass music disks. Right now, the only all-Fux disk I have is this one:



I will doubtless pick up the Ars Antiqua disk, you should really like that one, they are outstanding musicians. I have this one of music by Werner, Haydn's predecessor at Eisenstadt:



Very commendable, which is why I know I will like their Fux, too! 

Hi Gurn - thanks for responding - debated on whether to bring this 7 y/o thread back to life or start a new one?  I'm sure if I did the latter, other previous posters would come to the forefront saying we 'already had a thread on Fux'?  So, in a quandary -

But, thanks for the recommendations - I have 5 CDs coming in the mail of Fux's music, so should be pretty sated - I'm looking forward to the Letzbor disc (just bought one w/ him & group in Graupner which has received some 'mixed' reviews in his thread).  Dave

[Gurn Blanston]

Hi Gurn - thanks for responding - debated on whether to bring this 7 y/o thread back to life or start a new one?  I'm sure if I did the latter, other previous posters would come to the forefront saying we 'already had a thread on Fux'?  So, in a quandary -

But, thanks for the recommendations - I have 5 CDs coming in the mail of Fux's music, so should be pretty sated - I'm looking forward to the Letzbor disc (just bought one w/ him & group in Graupner which has received some 'mixed' reviews in his thread).  Dave

Yes, I have thoroughly looked over those disks! The Lux Æterna is the one that caught my eye. Please give us a review when you get a chance. As you know, my sub-hobby of 18th century Austrian Mass Music needs constant care and feeding too. Next week I will be posting a disk by George Reutter which I hope to really enjoy, and which fits right in with Fux (IIRC, he was a student of Fux, possibly once removed). 

[Moonfish]

A thanks from me as well, Dave. It is a good thing to rejuvenate composer threads!   

[SonicMan46]

Yes, I have thoroughly looked over those disks! The Lux Æterna is the one that caught my eye. Please give us a review when you get a chance. As you know, my sub-hobby of 18th century Austrian Mass Music needs constant care and feeding too. Next week I will be posting a disk by George Reutter which I hope to really enjoy, and which fits right in with Fux (IIRC, he was a student of Fux, possibly once removed). 

Gurn - looking again @ that K. link provided in my previous post, Fux wrote a lot of masses and other sacred vocal works - seemed to be his specialty - looking forward to the CPO 2-CD set I ordered (below left) - G. Bruno gave this a superlative review on Amazon (kind of trust him); also not ordered (i.e. yet) is the second CD below, which received three 5* reviews from Amazon, including another 'thumbs up' from Bruno - with your interest in this period, this composer's masses may be worthy of exploration?  Dave

 

[Moonfish]

Dave,
I have listened to this Fux recording quite a bit over the last month and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Clear, crisp sound and an enticing soundscape. It was my first major encounter with Fux and it completely caught my attention.

P

[asin] B0071N3H0Y[/asin]

[Moonfish]

I also just ordered my first two Fux CDs from Amazon, one mentioned by Don - Dave

I have been sampling the "Sacred Works" cd on Spotify. It is very beautiful (and quite tempting...). Thanks for bringing it forward. 
https://play.spotify.com/album/57lXCnAJ4ynTbRMRME5xzP

If you like this you should definitely listen to Fux's Kaiser Requiem.



P

[SonicMan46]

Hi Peter - thanks for the recommendation on the Requiem (love that genre and have many in my collection) - I now have 5 CDs coming in the mail, so will soon post back here.  Dave

[Gurn Blanston]

Gurn - looking again @ that K. link provided in my previous post, Fux wrote a lot of masses and other sacred vocal works - seemed to be his specialty - looking forward to the CPO 2-CD set I ordered (below left) - G. Bruno gave this a superlative review on Amazon (kind of trust him); also not ordered (i.e. yet) is the second CD below, which received three 5* reviews from Amazon, including another 'thumbs up' from Bruno - with your interest in this period, this composer's masses may be worthy of exploration?  Dave

 

Dave,
Well, as far as my period of interest goes, I consider Fux to be the beginning of it. If you read closely you see that he was a proponent of stile antico, but he didn't necessarily compose in it except on (rather rare) occasions. But the primary composers of the Classical Era were all his students by proxy, either directly from his book (which Haydn kept for over 50 years, full of marginal notes) or from teachers who used his methods, (as Beethoven did in learning from Haydn). I have ordered the 'Corpus Christi Mass' disk, and will start in with that. With all the other little goodies I have by him and his contemporaries already, I should be able to put together a really nice listening session! 

[SonicMan46]

Well, my first Fux recording arrived yesterday - first listen this morning:

Il Fonte della Salute aperto dalla Grazia nel Calvario (The Fount of Salvation, Opened through Grace on Mount Calvary) w/ Martin Haselböck, Wiener Akademie, and a half dozen soloists - among Fux's oratorios, he wrote six 'extant' Sepolcri which was a fading tradition when this work appeared in 1716 - below is a quoted review from BBC online (Performance & Sound rating, 4/5* each), which better describes the tradition and the performance.  Also peruse the two Amazon reviews HERE, one by Bruno - I pretty much agree w/ those comments - the singing is beautiful and the instrumentation excellent - this guy could certainly compose music!

Now, there is a slightly 'less flattering' ClassicsToday review w/ the performance rated a 7/10 but the sound 9/10, so cannot complain about CPO's production - the commentator seemed to not like the 'old' out of date sepolcro tradition, so may be more of a personal feeling.  Finally, attached is an interview w/ Haselböck and some comments from Fanfare (2001) - I'd enjoy hearing from others who may own and/or have heard this work?  Dave

If you thought Fux principally an influential theorist and contrapuntist, the 'Austrian Palestrina' – as did I – this Viennese 'Sepolcro' of 1716 will come as an unexpected treasure. It is strongly Italianate in style, effectively an oratorio of recitatives and da capo arias from allegorical characters, their dramatic activity very limited. But their passions match those of contemporary Italian opera, from Chum's blustering as the 'Obstinate Sinner', through Demon's jaunty invitation to sin (Bankl accompanied by a pair of sensuous bassoons), to chameleon-like changes of mood from Monoyios, 'Justice'. Though his music is often structured through close imitation and fluent counterpoint, Fux is a surprisingly gifted melodist, worthy of comparison with Handel or Alessandro Scarlatti. But innovative instrumental sounds haunt my memory too: a duet of chalumeau and trombone accompanying Koike's moving contemplation of the Cross, some charming continuo invention from Jeremy Joseph on chamber organ and, the high spot of the whole work, a heavenly aria with gamba obbligato from countertenor Henning Voss, focused, restrained and breathtakingly beautiful. Though Perillo as 'Mercy' has some hard edges, the whole solo team is strong. Some careless unisons from the vulnerably few strings occasionally mar orchestral sound. But no Baroque enthusiast should miss this remarkable revelation. George Pratt

[SonicMan46]

Well, I've now received 3 of the 4 CDs below - in the previous quoted post, there is an attachment containing reviews on all the these recordings except for the Lux Aeterna - at the beginning of this thread Don stated that this was his favorite Fux disc; Don is now Sammy (a.k.a. Bulldog) here and wrote a laudatory review on MusicWeb HERE - take a look because if you enjoy beautiful choral music, well performed and recorded, then this just may be a must addition to your Fux collection (or a start of one! ) - Dave

Well, exploring Amazon this afternoon and reading a lot of Fanfare reviews, I decided to order some more Fux dedicated to his instrumental works - added the three below - attached is a text file of reviews of each of these CDs, for those interested - Dave

   

 

[Moonfish]

Well, I've now received 3 of the 4 CDs below - in the previous quoted post, there is an attachment containing reviews on all the these recordings except for the Lux Aeterna - at the beginning of this thread Don stated that this was his favorite Fux disc; Don is now Sammy (a.k.a. Bulldog) here and wrote a laudatory review on MusicWeb HERE - take a look because if you enjoy beautiful choral music, well performed and recorded, then this just may be a must addition to your Fux collection (or a start of one! ) - Dave

Tempter!!!     

[Gurn Blanston]

Well, Dave, I just pulled the trigger on these two, I feel it's likely I can use the little instrumental disk as an adjunct to the Corpus Christi Mass disk. I see one of the partitas is in canone, I look forward to hearing that one. These two disks are by some of my favorite artists, so should be a nice boost to my appreciation of Fux.

[SonicMan46]

Well, Dave, I just pulled the trigger on these two, I feel it's likely I can use the little instrumental disk as an adjunct to the Corpus Christi Mass disk. I see one of the partitas is in canone, I look forward to hearing that one. These two disks are by some of my favorite artists, so should be a nice boost to my appreciation of Fux.

Hi Gurn - well, I have listened to the Letzbor and am sure that you'll enjoy!  I had the Mass & Motets CD in my Amazon cart and just push the button - so will report soon - Dave