Gaspard Fritz (1716-1783)
- Sinfonia (C-Dur) a piu strumenti des
'Sei Sinfonie a piu strumenti ... opera VI' (c.1770)
Performers: Kesselberg Ensemble; Petr Koudelka (conductor)
Further info: Gaspard Fritz (1716-1783) - Violin Concerto
---
Swiss composer and violinist. Son of the violinist Philippe Fritz
(1689-1744) and Jeanne Guibourdance, he received his first violin
lessons from his father. In the 1730s he studied in Turin with Giovanni
Battista Somis, a former pupil of Arcangelo Corelli. After returning to
Geneva, he married to Charlotte Foix (c.1714-1779) in 1737. In the same
year several young English aristocrats settled in Geneva after having
gone on their Grand Tour to Italy. They were used to meet at a salon
called the Common Room of Geneva, and despite Geneva being strictly
Calvinist at the time they were not prevented from organising
extravagant cultural events, such as theatrical performances and
pantomimes, between 1738 and 1743. These well-educated young Englishmen,
who termed themselves “The Bloods”, also invited representatives of the
local upper classes to their events. The young Gaspard Fritz directed a
small orchestra that provided their musical entertainment, and he will
presumably also have taken the opportunity to perform works of his own.
In 1756 he went to Paris for the publication of several of his works and
12 March and 18 April he appeared at the Concert Spirituel, but his
Italian style of playing acted against his success. In 1770, Charles
Burney met Fritz in Geneva. Burney remarks that Fritz had taught the
violin to several of his friends, which suggests that in his younger
days he had given lessons to members of the “Bloods”. Burney’s record of
their conversation reveals that Fritz was busy preparing the
publication of his 'Sei sinfonie a piu stromenti'. These symphonies were
published in Paris in the early 1770s. Burney was delighted at the news
of their imminent publication and promptly ordered two copies from the
composer. Gaspard Fritz only wrote instrumental music. His output
include a few collections of works, among them, flute sonatas, violin
sonatas, trio sonatas, six duets for two violins, the mentioned VI
symphonies, a violin concerto as well as a missing harpsichord concerto.
The printed opus collections were published between 1742 and 1772 in
Geneva, Paris and London. There have been a number of copies preserved,
especially as far as the sonata prints are concerned, in Danish and
Swedish libraries, but also in Brussels, Berlin and Berkeley, which is
evidence of how widespread and popular his music was during his
lifetime.
