During the first half of the eighteenth century, the socio-economic conditions of musicians employed at German courts were as diverse as the sizes of their respective music establishments. Unlike ‘Bratengeiger’ (roast meat violinists) or ‘Bierfiedler’ (beer fiddlers), tenured vocalists and instrumentalists serving kings, dukes, bishops, princes, landgraves or margraves were typically assured a steady income over the course of years, if not decades, and many received rises throughout their careers and old-age pensions when they retired. Musicians in executive positions, such as the Kapellmeister and concertmasters, tended to earn the highest wages, enabling them to lead a reasonably comfortable life, at least compared to lower-ranking colleagues whose salaries were much smaller.Footnote 1 Nevertheless, many musicians struggled financially because of unwise lifestyle choices or experienced hardship for reasons beyond their control, such as the civic music director of Hamburg, Georg Philipp Telemann, whose wife had overspent by the remarkable sum of 5,000 Reichsthaler, and Christoph Graupner, who in 1745 was owed one year's salary as Kapellmeister of Hesse-Darmstadt.Footnote 2
Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688–1758), who served as court Kapellmeister of Anhalt-Zerbst – where Catherine the Great of Russia, a former princess of Anhalt-Zerbst, had spent part of her childhood – for thirty-six years, presents something of an anomaly. His starting salary in 1722 was 350 Thaler, 50 Thaler more than he had earned in his previous employment in Prague, but 50 Thaler below what the neighbouring court of Anhalt-Köthen paid Johann Sebstian Bach, and over 150 Thaler less than what Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel made as court Kapellmeister in Gotha.Footnote 3 In 1737 Fasch's wage increased to 400 Thaler when his employer, Prince Johann August, granted him a huge one-off retrospective payment of 442 Thaler for having served as his director of music for fifteen years.Footnote 4 Additional outside income was also generated by Fasch – for example in the 1720s, when he did work for a previous employer as well, and on an annual basis between 1740 and 1753, when the Kapellmeister supplied the neighbouring residence of Anhalt-Köthen with occasional works.Footnote 5 One would not therefore expect Fasch to have struggled much financially, given that he did not have a large family to support, own property, pursue expensive pastimes or suffer from addiction-related problems (despite Zerbst's famous Bitterbier). Nevertheless, by the age of forty Fasch was carrying a debt of one thousand Thaler, more than three times his annual salary as Kapellmeister. During the last decade of his life he was also forced to borrow money repeatedly from the Consistory of Anhalt-Zerbst to make ends meet.
Was Johann Friedrich Fasch a spendthrift or generally not careful with his money? Who or what could have made a significant impact on his financial situation? This article focuses on how Fasch tried to make a living as a musician. Specifically, his financial profile will be traced in order to determine those factors that led or contributed to the problems he experienced in managing his money. These range from personal choices, matters of faith and the need to maintain a certain standard of living as Kapellmeister, to the varying degrees of financial support offered by his employers. The period during which he first began incurring debts – his student days in Leipzig – will be examined prior to viewing his professional career path through the lens of finance, beginning with Fasch's first official appointment in Gera in 1715 and ending with his death in Zerbst in 1758. Did Fasch's personal debts affect his productivity as a composer? The ‘Music-Wechsel’, or music exchange, that he organized and the contents of the court's ‘Concert-Stube’ music inventory from 1743 provide valuable hints, and indeed it was Fasch's overall work ethic, as well as his integrity as a musician, that made it possible for him to make a name for himself.
FASCH AS A STUDENT IN LEIPZIG
When Thomaskantor Johann Kuhnau dragged the thirteen-year old Fasch, born in Buttelstedt near Weimar in 1688, ‘aus dem Kothe’ (out of the mud) in 1701 so that he could attend the Thomasschule, the teenager was so poor he could not even afford music lessons.Footnote 6 After teaching himself how to play the ‘Clavier’, he soon began to compose, taking inspiration from his ‘geehrte[sten] und geliebesten Freundes’ (his most revered and beloved friend) Georg Philipp Telemann.Footnote 7 In 1708 Fasch began to study theology and law at the University of Leipzig and founded the so-called ‘zweyte’ (second) Collegium musicum, which grew steadily to about twenty people, whose names Fasch unfortunately does not specify. Under his direction, university students and alumni sang and played not only in Leipzig coffee houses but also at the opera house on the Brühl.Footnote 8 Had Fasch founded this ensemble to support himself financially?Footnote 9 Perhaps not initially, since coffee-house owners would not typically have paid musicians. But private individuals did: in Fasch's case Oberhofprediger Pipping and Leipzig's mayor Rivinius each commissioned him to compose Abendmusiken for them.Footnote 10
In 1710 Fasch and his Collegium musicum scored a major coup when being asked (and paid) by the university church, the Paulinerkirche, to perform during the Christmas season.Footnote 11 This had Thomaskantor Kuhnau up in arms. As the academic music director, he pointed out in a letter to the church council on 29 December that some of his former students were part of this ensemble, individuals whom he, in contrast to Fasch, was not allowed to recruit to play at the Paulinerkirche as per an explicit order by the Leipzig city council. Fully aware of Kuhnau's dilemma, Fasch immediately requested permission from the council
die Musik auch weiterhin – also zum bevorstehenden Neujahrsfest sowie an den folgenden Sonn- und Feiertagen – ‘ohne Entgeld’ und ohne jedwede Hoffnung auf irgendeine finanzielle ‘Erkäntlichkeit’ besorgen zu dürfen.
to continue performing [concerted] music – including for the upcoming New Year's Day holiday as well as on the Sundays and feast days that follow – ‘without being paid’ and without any hope of receiving any kind of ‘honorarium’.
It was after all impossible for Kuhnau to look after the music in all of Leipzig's churches himself, argued Fasch, and it would be cumbersome ‘die Instrumenta hin und her zu tragen’ (to carry the instruments back and forth). In contrast, there was no ‘Mangel an musicalischen Instrumenten’ (lack of musical instruments) in Fasch's Collegium musicum, nor ‘[müßten] selbige nicht erst mit großen Unkosten … angeschaffet werden’ (did these have to be purchased at great expense in the first place).Footnote 12 Fasch's main argument, however, focused on the fact that ‘kein eintziger Studiosus aus denen Collegiis musicis … sich H. Kuhnauen zu gefallen unter seine direction werde zwingen laßen’ (not a single student from these Collegia musica … would allow Mr Kuhnau's direction to be forced upon him).
This feisty letter by Fasch reveals pertinent information about his personality and his attitude towards money. His offer to perform at the Paulinerkirche for free emphasizes not only his generous nature, but also his understanding of the ‘big picture’: if his ensemble continued to impress the church council, it could possibly be swayed to start paying the musicians, and – since the students would play only under his direction – offer Fasch the position of academic music director. At least that was the scenario that Johann Heinrich Ernesti, member of the church council and principal of the Thomasschule, envisaged, and he promptly advised against accepting Fasch's generous proposal. The church council eventually agreed with him in late March 1711, by which time Fasch had already applied (albeit unsuccessfully) for the vacant cantor post in Chemnitz.Footnote 13
To date, archival sources that document Fasch's spending habits as a student, beyond paying the required university fees, have not come to our attention.Footnote 14 Food, rent, clothes and books as well as instruments, paper, pen and ink to write out the music performed by the Collegium musicum must have been high on his list of priorities. Over twenty years later Fasch blamed the ‘von Jugend auff gehabte Entblößung aller zeitl[ichen] Mittel’ (lack of funds throughout his youth) and the ‘Schuldenlast’ (debt burden) incurred during the years spent attending school and university for his owing close to one thousand Thaler in 1728.Footnote 15 Unfortunately, the names of Fasch's Leipzig creditors and the amount of his Wechsel-Schulden (debt arrears) are not known. By signing a Wechsel-Schuld, the debtor would agree to pay on a specified date either the person who had provided him with the goods or a third party to whom that individual owed money. Since Wechsel-Schulden were common amongst merchants, Fasch could have purchased supplies at the popular Messen, or fairs, that were held three times a year in Leipzig.Footnote 16 It is also possible that he may have used whatever money he had made in 1711 and 1712 from composing operas and directing opera performances for the Naumburg fair to pay off some of his creditors.Footnote 17
SEARCHING FOR THE PERFECT JOB – FROM DARMSTADT TO PRAGUE
Fasch left Leipzig at the latest in the summer of 1713, possibly with law and theology degrees in hand.Footnote 18 His dream was to go on an all-expenses-paid trip to Italy and study composition; his Naumburg employer, Prince Wilhelm Moritz von Saxony-Zeitz, from whom Fasch was seeking financial support, produced only a recommendation to the court of Gotha. Rather than immediately accepting permanent employment (perhaps as a clerk, given his legal training) and paying off his debts, Fasch, by then in his mid-twenties, set out to take composition lessons with his former Thomasschule prefect, Kapellmeister Christoph Graupner, and his concertmaster Gottfried Grünewald.Footnote 19 Fasch spent fourteen weeks at the court of Hesse-Darmstadt in early 1714, having been taken in ‘mit vieler Liebe’ (with much love) and been taught ‘in der Composition auf das treulichste’ (most faithfully in composition) – and at no cost.Footnote 20 Still, he would have had to cover his living expenses, possibly by copying music for Graupner and perhaps by participating in performances at the court.Footnote 21 Prior to arriving in Darmstadt, Fasch had visited a number of courts in central, western and southern Germany to perform, if not compose.Footnote 22 This not only would have given him the flexibility to head to Italy, should an opportunity suddenly present itself, but also would have allowed him to gain more practical experience as a musician and make enough money to travel to Darmstadt in the first place. Perhaps he had expected to pay Graupner and Grünewald for teaching him as well. Or could this seemingly aimless wandering on Fasch's part have been an intentional decision to avoid his creditors? A lack of relevant primary sources prevents us from answering this question and understanding the possible ramifications of his early career decisions for his debts in later life.
The acceptance of a clerical position as ‘Sekretair und Cammerschreiber’ in Gera in 1715 signals that the twenty-seven-year-old Fasch had abandoned his plans to travel to Italy as well as his freelance lifestyle in favour of more permanent employment. Johann Adam Hiller claimed in his Lebensbeschreibungen berühmter Tonkünstler neurer Zeit from 1784 that Fasch's decision to settle down in Gera – which, according to his autobiographical essay from 1757, he had visited prior to arriving in Darmstadt – had been informed ‘eigentlich … wohl der Musik wegen’ (really … in view of the music [in other words, the court Kapelle]), which Fasch ‘auf fünf Jahre lang besetzen und verstärken half’ (had worked with and strengthened for five years).Footnote 23 While it has been impossible to determine the exact nature of Fasch's activities and his salary, extant sources confirm that he married the fifteen-year-old Anna Christina Laurentius from Roben, near Gera, on 16 November 1717.Footnote 24 Following the birth of their first child in January 1719, Fasch and his young family moved to Greiz with his father-in-law, who became the town's archdeacon in March of that year. Two months later, in early May 1719, Fasch became the local Stadtschreiber (civic clerk) before taking on the position of town organist, most likely as of September. His total annual wage amounted to eighty florins, which he occasionally seems to have supplemented with composing.Footnote 25 On 3 November 1720, for example, a sacred cantata by Fasch was premiered on the occasion of the consecration of St Trinity Church in Reinsdorf, near Gera.Footnote 26 Tragically, Anna Christina Fasch had died a month earlier after giving birth to a son, whom Fasch later buried in March 1721. Moreover, in May the Ober- and Untergreiz council members could not come to an agreement as to whose turn it was to govern the region. This resulted in Fasch being unable to carry out his work duties or to draw a salary.
A letter of 28 October 1721 to the Counts of Greiz indicates that Fasch had removed himself to Prague, having left town without permission.Footnote 27 In order to avoid further repercussions (‘Ungnade’), he asked to be dismissed quickly, with ‘[mein] antheil der besoldung und accidentien biß Michaël mir annoch mögte ausgezahlet werden, dergleich auch aus dem Kirch-Kasten zu hoffen und erwarten habe’ ([my] share of the salary and additional payments to be paid to me until St Michael's Day, in the hope and expectation that the same [payments] will also be made by [my employers at] the church). His Greiz employer granted Fasch's request in early November 1721.Footnote 28
In the Bohemian capital Fasch enjoyed the highly lucrative post of ‘Componist’ for Count Wenzel Morzin.Footnote 29 It paid three hundred florins (Gulden) as well as ‘gute Tafel, Quartier, Holtz [und] Lichtfrey’ (good meals, lodging, firewood and candles).Footnote 30 Had Fasch's ‘Herzensfreund’ (favourite friend) from Leipzig, Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel (1690–1749), facilitated this position? Prior to his appointment as the new Kapellmeister of Gera in 1718 – where he surely must have come into contact with Fasch – Stölzel had spent three years in Prague. How long Fasch intended in the first place to work in the Bohemian capital is unclear; after all, he had left his young daughter behind in Greiz and probably sent money to his in-laws to help out. Stölzel, who had advanced to Kapellmeister of Saxony-Gotha in the meantime,Footnote 31 apparently urged Fasch twice to consider the director of music position in Zerbst, which had become vacant in the late spring of 1722. It took a third notice, accompanied by a letter from his father-in-law reminding him of his parental duties, to make Fasch leave Prague for central Germany.Footnote 32 Or was he perhaps holding out for the vacant position of Thomaskantor, for which he had applied in July 1722?
FASCH IN ZERBST
News about Telemann's being selected for the Leipzig post on 11 August 1722 could have reached Fasch prior to his accepting the post of Kapellmeister of Anhalt-Zerbst. It is not known whether he visited Zerbst before being offered employment, what an audition would have involved or who the other candidates may have been.Footnote 33 But Johann Friedrich Wagner, a member of the Kapelle since 1720, had served for several months as interim director of music.Footnote 34 Unlike J. S. Bach, who had written a secular cantata for Prince Johann August's birthday on 9 August 1722, he was not paid for his efforts, possibly because he did not compose. Perhaps Bach had been asked to apply by the court, but, if so, he had obviously decided against it, probably in light of the more intense workload and lower salary compared to Anhalt-Köthen.Footnote 35
Fasch's duties as Kapellmeister during his first year in Zerbst, beginning on 29 September (‘Michaelis’) 1722, are itemized in his autobiographical essay from 1757.Footnote 36 He was to provide all the music required by the court, including that for weekly services at the court chapel and concerts at the palace, as well as for annual celebrations of princely birthdays.Footnote 37 Since Fasch's appointment letter is not extant, it is impossible to determine other conditions the court may have specified or to identify the job benefits he may have enjoyed, such as free meals and lodging, permission to travel and being allowed to earn additional income from outside activities.Footnote 38 Entries in the extant court account books detail only his annual wage, 350 Thaler (fifty Thaler more than his predecessor, Kapelldirektor Johann Baptist Kuch), and annual payments-in-kind (‘Deputate’), as well as honoraria paid during official times of mourning at the court. Moreover, it is likely that Fasch would have been consulted or been personally involved whenever music and instruments were bought to help expand the princely collection.Footnote 39
When exactly young Sophia Fasch joined her father in Zerbst, or which part of town and type of residence they lived in, is unknown.Footnote 40 But Fasch could definitely have afforded a nanny or a maid, or both; one of his unmarried sisters from Suhl could also have joined them occasionally, if not permanently.Footnote 41 Primary sources that document the actual cost of living in Zerbst during Fasch's tenure are few and far between. Extant court account records shed light on how much the court paid for certain items, but it is impossible to determine whether Fasch would have been charged the same or less by merchants, where he shopped or whether he enjoyed vegetables and fruits straight from his own garden. Fasch was probably also not able to afford many of the Genußmittel, or baked goods, confectionery and alcohol, in which the princely family indulged increasingly: related expenditures rose by forty-one per cent over four decades, compared to nearly twelve per cent for basic food items. Otherwise, the court's overall spending habits during the first half of the eighteenth century reflect the external, lasting splendour that rulers strove for at the time, regardless of rank and income.Footnote 42
The first few months as Kapellmeister must not only have involved very intense work, but must also have been an emotional roller-coaster for Fasch. Neither Telemann nor Graupner (the runner-up) accepted the position of Thomaskantor in the end, and so the Leipzig mayor, Hofrath von Lange, asked Fasch to reapply for the post in November. Fasch, however, felt he could not leave his employer after only a few weeks of service and also stressed that he was not willing to teach at the Thomasschule.Footnote 43
Otherwise, Fasch seems never to have regretted choosing the Kapellmeister position in Zerbst over the Thomaskantorat in Leipzig, even though the latter would have been the more prestigious and lucrative of the two. His decision to stay put must have been influenced by his relationship with Prince Johann August of Anhalt-Zerbst, himself a trained musician.Footnote 44 The Prince, for example, seemed not to mind that Fasch travelled frequently, privately as well as on business. On these trips Fasch occasionally supplemented his Kapellmeister salary: Table 1 provides an overview of his documented travels over the course of three decades (from 1725 to 1754) as well as the additional income Fasch generated by way of ‘Auswärtige Musicalische Arbeiten’ (music-related employment outside of Zerbst).Footnote 45
From the overview provided by Table 1 it is evident that there had to have been an understanding, if not an official arrangement, between the princes of Anhalt-Zerbst and their Kapellmeister as to paid leaves of absence. On the one hand, even short(er) trips – nearby Köthen, for example, involved a ferry ride across the river Elbe – would have left the Kapelle without a director for several days; if the destination was far away, like Dresden or Prague, Fasch could have been away for weeks.Footnote 46 On the other hand, certain court musicians would have been very busy themselves, as they held other jobs, a common occurrence at eighteenth-century German courts. Johann George Sattler, for example, received fifty Thaler for instructing the page boys at court in fencing, while Johann (Christian?) Brasch was required by the court to teach members of the Palace Guard how to play the oboe and the violin.Footnote 47 Entries in the Zerbst court account books also indicate that whoever took over Fasch's duties was not remunerated separately; that individual must, therefore, have either volunteered or been ordered to step in during the Kapellmeister's absence, especially during the 1720s. In early 1725 (if not in fact from late 1724) Fasch spent at least six weeks in Prague and received forty-eight Gulden from his former employer, Count Morzin, for non-specified, but probably music-related, activities.Footnote 48 A few months later, in May 1725, the court of Anhalt-Köthen paid Fasch even more, fifty Thaler, for ‘[sich] alhier hören laßen’ (having performed here).Footnote 49 Such a significant sum implies more than one performance by Fasch and that works were commissioned by the court. Leaving town got much easier in the 1730s, with the newly recruited violinist and later concertmaster Carl Höckh (1707–1773) looking after concerts at the palace when Fasch was away and co-supervising services at the chapel with court organist and cellist Johann Georg Röllig (1710–1790), Anhalt-Zerbst's last Kapellmeister.
Table 1 Documented trips taken by Johann Friedrich Fasch and additional income generated, 1725–1754
Only one of Fasch's many trips was financially supported by the court of Anhalt-Zerbst. In early October 1726 he left for Dresden ‘wegen Musicalischer Angelegenheiten’ (because of musical matters).Footnote 50 In fact, Fasch worked closely with two old Leipzig colleagues, court Kapellmeister Johann David Heinichen and violinist (later concertmaster) Johann Georg Pisendel, and composed Catholic court music to be performed by first-class artists from across Europe who were employed at Dresden by the Saxon Elector Friedrich August, a patron of the arts and architecture.Footnote 51 Fasch predicted that he was going to be in Dresden for about seven months, until Easter or mid-April 1727, but he may have stayed longer, since the court of Anhalt-Zerbst sent him the remarkable sum of 275 Thaler in addition to his annual Kapellmeister salary of 350 Thaler (see Table 1). Where in Dresden he resided and specifically what he spent his money on is not known, but it is conceivable that Prince Johann August had ordered Fasch to purchase music and instruments for the court, and to recruit suitable musicians for the Kapelle.Footnote 52 Fasch could also have returned to Zerbst while being stationed in Saxony, delivering new music and instruments for the Kapelle, and reporting to the artistically inclined Prince about his progress, if not receiving new instructions from him. Sadly, Fasch's sister Sophia died in Suhl in November 1726, which may have encouraged him to visit his relatives in Thuringia. Perhaps they looked after young Sophia so that her father could focus on his planned activities in Dresden.
That Fasch was not composing or performing day and night is evident, however, from his involvement in so-called Erbauungsstunden (devotional hours). These had been organized by the influential religious reformer and Lutheran Pietist Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700–1760).Footnote 53 He proposed individual piety as an alternative to Lutheran Orthodoxy, the main faith denomination in central Germany.Footnote 54 It may have been at one of Zinzendorf's meetings – which were, in fact, Bible studies disguised as Tafelmusiken – that Fasch met his future wife, Johanna Helena Simers, who hailed from Groß-Kmehlen near Dresden. When the Kapellmeister first publicly proclaimed himself a Pietist is unknown, but that he did so may seem to have been inevitable, given that Fasch had been in contact with Halle's main proponent of Pietism, August Hermann Francke (1663–1727), prior to October 1726.Footnote 55 In any case, Fasch could have shared the news with his (probably surprised) Lutheran Orthodox colleagues and superiors as soon as he returned to Zerbst in 1727.
LIFE AFTER MARRIAGE
When the long-time widower and single parent wed in spring 1728, his life changed forever – and for the better. Judging from a letter written to Zinzendorf in 1732, Fasch was deeply in love with his young wife (she was half her husband's age) and they shared the same ‘geistigen Hunger’ (spiritual hunger).Footnote 56 Most importantly, Frau Fasch was willing to take on her husband's Leipzig debts and those caused by ‘andere[n] hier in Zerbst von Gott mir zugeschickte[n] schwere[n] Creützes-Umstände’ (other terrible burdens sent by God to me here in Zerbst), amounting to one thousand Thaler. Fasch reports proudly that his wife made every effort
dann gleich anfangs, ihre Haushaltung auf das genaueste einzurichten, wodurch wir denn auch, ob schon unter unzehl[igen] Troublen und Beängstigungen, in der Zeit von 3 Jahren an die 600 Thlr. getilget haben'.Footnote 57
from the very beginning [of our union], to be very careful with her household budget which made it possible for us, despite countless troubles and fears, to pay back close to six hundred Thaler over the course of three years [between 1728 and 1731].
It is clear that Fasch was not telling Count Zinzendorf the whole story in this letter, leaving him (and us) in the dark about who or what had caused his life in Zerbst to become unbearable. Why had Fasch been unable to lower his debt permanently before 1728 – had he perhaps been ashamed even to try? After all, he had been earning a good wage since 1721, supplementing his income with commissions, if not enjoying free housing. But his executive position as Kapellmeister of Anhalt-Zerbst would have made him eminently creditworthy in and outside of town.
In June 1728, two months after his nuptials, Fasch contacted Johann Mattheson, editor of the volume Der musicalische Patriot, to request that he be put in touch with ‘ietzt–lebenden Capellmeistern, Cantoribus und anderen guten Componisten’ (fellow Kapellmeisters, cantors and other capable composers) in an attempt to engage them in a ‘Brief- und Music-Wechsel’ (exchange of music and letters). Footnote 58 Specifically, Fasch wished to exchange cantata cycles, and for good reason: composing, rehearsing and directing these compositions ate up most of his working hours. By programming cantata cycles by colleagues, he would not only lighten his workload, but be able to focus his energy on composing special music that was required by the court, most importantly new settings of the gospel passion and the mass ordinary, as well as annual cantatas and serenatas for princely birthdays. Moreover, the musicians and their audiences would be exposed to new, high-quality repertoire, thus successfully counteracting the musical isolation of Zerbst.
Or was he perhaps trying to carve out even more time in order to provide the Dresden court with instrumental compositions of his own – and make a hefty profit? The Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- and Universitätsbibliothek Dresden holds a great number of works by Fasch that were sent to the Saxon metropolis over the course of about twenty-five years, at least until Pisendel's death in 1755.Footnote 59 However, money never seems to have changed hands. In fact the Anhalt-Zerbst court music inventory from 1743, the ‘Concert-Stube’, whose contents were stored in a large (rehearsal?) room in the basement of the palace's west wing, implies that scores were used as means of exchange.Footnote 60 Of the nearly five hundred compositions contributed by close to ninety composers that are itemized in the inventory, the majority of music was written by Fasch, followed by Vivaldi (with whom Pisendel had studied in Italy) and Fasch's favourite German composer, Telemann, in addition to other, primarily ‘ietzt-lebenden’ (contemporary) European colleagues.Footnote 61 That musical life at the court must, therefore, have been vibrant is confirmed by the many guest artists who frequented Anhalt-Zerbst during Fasch's thirty-six-year tenture.Footnote 62
Nevertheless, Fasch desperately wished to leave Zerbst in the 1730s, when members of the Lutheran-Orthdox clergy at court, who were opposed to his committment to Pietism, were making his life miserable. For example, in his letter to Zinzendorf from 20 February 1732 he noted that Oberhofprediger Töpfer ensured that Fasch's plan to borrow three hundred Thaler from the court in January 1732 was thwarted by his son-in-law, Hoffcammerrath von Rebhun.Footnote 63 What exactly Fasch needed this sum for is unclear. Since he still owed over four hundred Thaler at the time, was it perhaps an attempt to consolidate his debts and deal with fewer creditors?
That same year Fasch also applied to the (more pietistically inclined) court of Copenhagen and for a Kapellmeister position in Zittau in 1735, but unsuccessfully. Had he left, he would have taken with him not only his beloved wife, but also their daughter, Johanna Friedericka, born in Groß-Kmehlen on 3 May 1732, and a son, August Friedrich. Born on 3 January 1735 in Zerbst, this son died nine short months later in Groß-Kmehlen, on 22 September 1735. The baby boy had two very special godparents, Prince Johann August and his wife, Princess Hedwig Friedericke – a high distinction for Kapellmeister Fasch.Footnote 64
In addition to providing for a growing family, Fasch may also have financially supported the Institutum Judaicum, the first German Protestant mission to the Jews in the 1730s. In a letter from 24 July 1735 to the Institute's founder, Johann Heinrich Callenberg (1694–1760), Fasch referred to one louis d'or – a considerable sum, equivalent to five Reichsthaler – which he had been entrusted with by unnamed persons (fellow Pietists?) to pass on to Callenberg:Footnote 65
Sie haben vielmahlen Hertzlich gewünschet, daß dieses Werck in Seegen fortgehen, und viele Früchte davon zum Vorschein kommen mögten, wie Sie denn auch beÿgeschoßenen Louisd'oor mir gnädigst überlieffert haben, an Ew: hochEdl: solchen, zu einigem beÿtrag oberwehnten Instituti, zu übermachen.Footnote 66
Many times have they wished with all their hearts that this work would continue with blessings, and that it would bear much fruit. To that end, they delivered to me the enclosed louis d'or to pass on to Your Grace in support of the above-mentioned Institutum.
How much of the sum Fasch contributed himself is unknown, but this emphasizes the trust he had earned and the respect he enjoyed amongst his friends and supporters.Footnote 67
A horrifying mobbing incident shook Fasch's world in early 1737 and caused several months of ‘große[s] lärmen’ (literally, ‘a great deal of noise’; here, ‘quite a stir’).Footnote 68 In a letter to Count Zinzendorf from 11 May of that year he recalled the following events:
[Als der Assessor Moogk] … beygesetzet wurde, u[nd] ich mitt andern freünden mitt zu seiner beerdigung hinaus fuhre, kommen indeß verschiedene Personen zu meiner Frauen, u[nd] bez[e]ügen ihr Mittleyden, weil sie gehört, daß ich von Serenissimi Durl[aucht] meine Dimission bekommen; unter solchen war der Medicus, Hr. Dr. Kühn, von dem ich den andern Tag erfuhre, daß es üm deßwillen geschehen, weil ich mitt dem seel. auff pietistische Weise gebethet u. ihn auch auff solche art im Sarge eingesegnet hätte[;] über dieses [ich] auch die Schwärmer von Cöthen u. der orten, immer beherbergte[.]Footnote 69
When [the Assessor Moogk] was buried …, and I went out to the burial together with several friends, various persons visited my wife and expressed their sorrow about the news that I had been dismissed by His Grace. Among these people was the physician Dr Kühn, from whom I learned the reasons [for my bogus dismissal] on the following day: I had prayed in a Pietist manner and given him [Moogk] a blessing of that kind [as he lay] in the coffin; moreover, I had always allowed the enthusiasts from Köthen and other [such Pietist] places to stay with me.
Whether or not Fasch immediately refuted the accusations is unclear. However, his decision not to show up for work on the grounds of physical exhaustion definitely turned out to be a mistake:
Da [ich] nun, durch das viele wachen so abgemattet war, daß den folgenden Sontag nicht in die SchloßKirche, u. an meinen Dienst gehen konte, wurde das Volck in dieser Meynung bestärket, weßwegen denn alles, was noch einige Forderung an mich hatte, mich mitt gröster Heftigkeit anfiehle.
Since [I] was too tired to attend to my duties at the court chapel the following Sunday because [I had] been awake so much, the congregation was encouraged to think [that I had indeed been dismissed]. As a consequence, every person to whom I still owed something attacked me with the greatest intensity.
Having his creditors turn up at his doorstep all at once must have been a huge embarrassment for Fasch and severely tarnished his reputation as Hofkapellmeister. He escaped this living nightmare by quickly leaving town to chase after one of his own creditors, a former composition student named Johann Caspar Seyffarth (or Seyfert, 1697–1767). We do not know if Fasch actually received permission from his employer to travel, but he had evidently experienced ‘viele Erqvickung in geistl. [Dingen]’ (much refreshment in regard to spiritual [matters])', specifically in Magdeburg, Halberstadt and Wernigerode. Documents confirming that he had indeed been paid by Seyfert seem not to be extant; upon his return to Zerbst, Fasch must certainly have been relieved to hear that he had been fully exonerated.
According to Fasch, his enemies – albeit unidentified ones – had maliciously spread these rumours so that his creditors would indeed come and haunt him; apparently, Fasch still owed 250 Thaler, or over half a year's salary, to at least one of them (‘da unter Ihnen noch auff 250 Thlr schuldig bin’). But what had hurt Fasch the most was that his enemies wished for ‘die noch wenigen Seelen’ (the few poor souls) who had been supporting him in the past to turn away from him completely. Was their plan successful? Yes, noted Fasch in his letter to Zinzendorf, in as much as he had been experiencing an ‘unbeschreiblich[e] bedrängniß’ (indescribable distress) ever since and had needed to push himself through it all ‘auff wunderbahre art’ (in a wonderful [miraculous?] way). Fasch also expressed the wish to resume his studies in theology, which implies either that he had finished only his law degree earlier, or that he was considering further studies.
The question of whether the Prince or any of his court officials ever got involved in this matter, and how Frau Fasch coped during her husband's absence, remains open. But an entry in the court account books from mid-June 1737 confirms that Fasch's endurance had allowed him to benefit from a most generous financial gesture on Prince Johann August's part (see Figure 1).Footnote 70
Accordingly, all tenured court musicians received a permanent rise at that time. Fasch's wage rose the most, by fifty Thaler to four hundred Thaler, and he was also the only one to receive a ‘Nachschuss’ (subsequent payment) of 442 Thaler – or more than one year's salary – for fifteen years of continuing service.Footnote 71 That this amount was not paid out immediately is evident, however, from an autograph letter by Fasch at the Landeshauptarchiv Sachsen-Anhalt, Abteilung Dessau.Footnote 72 On 5 April 1738 the Kapellmeister was still waiting for his money and felt compelled to point out to the Prince that ‘die Pressuren aber von meinen noch übrigen Creditoren allbereit starck erfolgen’ (my creditors are pressuring me greatly at present). Exactly when the court released the sum is unclear, but in summer 1738 Fasch bought a Cremonese violin from the widow Koch in Eisenach, only to make her wait for her money for two years.Footnote 73 This hints at the fact that the instrument was probably intended for Fasch's personal use, rather than the court's musical collection. In 1740 he was paid by the court of Anhalt-Köthen for various pieces of occasional music; Fasch continued to provide them with his compositions virtually every year until 1753 (see Table 1 above).Footnote 74
‘WAS DIESER GELDMANGEL UNS VOR TÄGL. KUMMER MACHET’Footnote 75
The 1740s and 1750s were the most difficult decades in Fasch's life and career. Within five years, two members of his family and three employers died, beginning with Prince Johann August (1742), followed by Fasch's wife Johanna Helena (1743), his oldest daughter, Sophia (1746), his favourite Prince, the highly musical Johann Ludwig (1746),Footnote 76 and the latter's brother, Prince Christian August (1747). Christian August's daughter Catherine, formerly Princess Sophie Auguste Friedericke of Anhalt-Zerbst, had married the future tsar of Russia in 1745, thrusting the small principality into the international political spotlight – and involving the expenditure of huge amounts of money on celebrating the union at home. Footnote 77
Figure 1 Overview of salaries drawn by all members of the Anhalt-Zerbst Hofkapelle in 1737–1738. Landeshauptarchiv Sachsen-Anhalt, Abteilung Dessau, Z 92, Kammer Zerbst, Kammerrechnungen 1737/38, 109. Used by permission
The year before, in 1744, a grieving Fasch had explored the possibility of leaving Zerbst to become the next cantor of Freiberg/Saxony. But he stayed on, possibly also because of his wonderful personal relationship with the musical Prince Johann Ludwig.Footnote 78 But who could have anticipated the latter's untimely death, which resulted in Princess Johanna Elisabeth's coming into power in 1747? Like her underage son and successor, Prince Friedrich August, for whom she ruled until 1752, she was more concerned with her own well-being than that of her subjects, which translated into a change in artistic priorities at the court.Footnote 79
Otherwise, Fasch's attention during the 1740s was focused primarily on the musical education of his son Carl Friedrich Christian, born in Zerbst on 18 November 1736.Footnote 80 His godfather, first violinist Höckh (like Fasch senior a Pietist), taught ‘Carlchen’ the basics, and in 1750 he was given to ‘dem HochFürstl. Strehlitzischen Cammer Musico Herteln … zur weitern Information auf dem Flügel und auf der Violine’ (the Princely Chamber Musician at Strelitz [Johann Wilhelm] Hertel to continue his studies on the keyboard and the violin) for one year.Footnote 81 As a result, Fasch owed three hundred Thaler by early July 1752, which seems a lot, but this sum may include not only expenses related to room, board and instruction, but also incidentals such as clothing for (the still growing) Carl, travel costs to and from Strelitz, and perhaps some pocket money. His father was ‘bekümmert’ (distressed) to have to admit to Princess Johanna Elisabeth that ‘dadurch [meine Finanzen] wiederum in einige Unordnung gerathen müßen’ (because of this my finances will once again have to be in some disarray).Footnote 82 On the other hand, Fasch reported proudly that he was saving up for a new keyboard for Carl, so that he could continue to improve his skills. Being granted another loan of fifty Thaler to be paid back after a year would allow the Kapellmeister the ‘Wiederherstellung meiner etwas wiederum verfallenen wirtschafftl. Ümbstände’ (restoration of my economic circumstances, which have once again been somewhat on the decline), and would provide him with ‘neüen Muth und Munterkeit … beÿ meiner itzigen Kirchen–Arbeit’ (new courage and vigour … for my current composition of sacred works).Footnote 83 The court granted him the loan, but probably never expected Fasch to try and postpone the payment due dates at all costs.
In mid-September 1753 Fasch argued that he could not pay back twenty-five Thaler both on Michaelis (29 September) and at Christmas, because of the wedding festivities for Prince Friedrich August that were to be held at court in November. After all, he needed to look the part of a Kapellmeister with an ‘honetten Character’ (honourable character).Footnote 84 The court agreed to an extension, only to be told by Fasch in March 1754 that
damahls, in Ansehung der Ausgaben [ich] inetwas übertrieben hatt[e], besonders, da auch vor meinen Sohn Carlchen, obwohl noch außer Diensten, ich beÿ den Musiquen nöthig hatte, eine ganz neue Kleidung machen zu laßen mich forciret sahe.
at the time [in autumn 1753, I] spent a little too much money [in the months leading up to the princely wedding], especially because I felt obliged to outfit my son Carlchen with a set of new clothes since he was needed for musical performances, even though he was not [yet] a regular employee [that is, a tenured member of the Kapelle].Footnote 85
This raises the question of whether Fasch ever spent his money in an extravagant or reckless manner. As the court Kapellmeister and the court official in charge of musical performances, he was undoubtedly always in the public eye and was expected to be a model of professional behaviour. Apparently, he was also acutely aware of how much others would judge his outward appearance and, by extension, that of his Kapelle. Fasch's anxiety regarding the public image of his court music establishment, especially in comparison with other Hofkapellen, is evident from a letter he penned to Prince Friedrich August prior to the wedding festivities in September 1753.Footnote 86 First, Fasch emphasized that all musicians who had been ordered to participate in musical performances during the celebrations in Zerbst wished to wear appropriate ‘Bekleidung’ (clothing [uniforms?]) and appear ‘vor Eürer Hochfüstl. Durchl: und andern hohen Herrschaften (wie beÿ denen Capellen von Fürstl. Höfen geschiehen) in reinlich = und guter Kleidung’ (before your Princely Highness and other members of the nobility in clean and good [professional] outfits (as is the case with the Kapellen at other Princely courts)). Fasch and his musicians must have been pleased when the court granted his request, and this led him to overspend. But one could hardly blame him – after all, one's princely employer did not get married every day, and showing off one's Kapelle and a highly musically gifted son to an audience of potential employers must have felt like the opportunity of a lifetime.
The other important reason for Fasch to try to defer loan payments as early as 1754 was his deteriorating health and associated costs. Apparently, that same year he had suffered a ‘doppelt schlimmen Zufall, so wohl am Haupte, als [auch … einen gefährlichen] Schaden im Gesichte’ (a pair of unfortunate [medical] incidents, affecting my head as well as [… dangerous] damage in my face).Footnote 87 If these particular conditions involved some sort of paralysis, caused perhaps by a mild stroke, he must have been thankful that they had not affected his ability to write. That Fasch's state of health continued to be worrisome is apparent from a letter written in September 1754. After undergoing expensive treatment (‘costbare cur’) at an unidentified medical facility (or spa?) in Magdeburg that summer, Fasch returned to nurse two very sick children back to health.Footnote 88 This resulted in ‘so viele Unkosten’ (so many expenses) that there was little left from his ‘Gagegeldern’ (salary).Footnote 89 Once again, the court was lenient with its Kapellmeister and permitted Fasch to pay back the loan instalments as late as Easter (2 April) and 24 June 1755 respectively. However, when Fasch made another request for fifty Thaler, specifically to pay off a Leipzig Wechsel-Schuld – neither the amount nor the identity of the creditor is known – the court respectfully declined.Footnote 90
Thanks to the multi-talented Kapelle member Röllig, who contributed two complete cantata cycles for the chapel in 1754/1755 and 1755/1756 and sang and played other instruments during services when necessary, Fasch's absences seem not to have had adverse effects on musical programming at the court. Interestingly, Röllig, who was severely cash-strapped himself, never requested payment for his services.Footnote 91 Perhaps he reasoned that Fasch's death and his own promotion to Kapellmeister were imminent – or he had become aware that Fasch had secretly applied for the vacant position of Kantor in Freiberg/Saxony on 29 October 1755.Footnote 92 Given that his annual salary would have been only eighty Thaler, or one fifth of his Zerbst Kapellmeister wage, Fasch was clearly not seeking to move for financial gain. In fact, he was willing to accept an even lower wage in order to get out of the required ‘Schulstunden, zu[r] Informierung der Jugend’ (hours in the classroom instructing school pupils). Specifically, Fasch argued that ‘bey so vieler in denen bißherigen Diensten gehabter Kopfarbeit und ermangelnder Übung, [ist mir] das meiste zur lateinischen Sprache gehörige wiederum entfallen’ (owing to so much brainwork having been required in [my] present job up to now and to a lack of practice, [I have] once again forgotten most of what is necessary [to teach] the Latin language).Footnote 93 But it was in a follow-up letter to Freiberg superintendent Christian Friedrich Willisch on 30 October 1755 that Fasch shed light on what had motivated him to apply in the first place:
und ich kan nicht leügnen, daß dannhero von Hertzen wünsche, meine noch übrigen Lebens=Jahre bloß dem Dienste Gottes und seiner Kirche widmen zu können … Wannen nun Ew: HochEhrw: überzeuget seyn mögten, daß zu sothaner Vacantz ich nicht nur geschicket seyn dürffte; alß habe ich nur noch dieses an Hochselbten versichern wollen, daß
1) mich iederzeit hüthen werde, (wenn ein erwünschtes Ja! über meine Petitum erfolgete) der dortigen christl. Gemeinde mit allzulanger Kirchen=Musique beschwerlich zu seyn,
2) meine GemüthsGestalt so beschaffen ist, daß äußerst mich dahin bestrebe, Ruhe und Frieden, bey meinen Ambts=Verrrichtungen, zum beständigen Augenmerck zu haben, wie denn, bei meinen allhiesigen etl. 30jährigen Diensten, keine eintzige Klag=Sache von mir oder denen mir untergebenen, bey dem Hoch=Fürstl. Marschallambte zum Vorschein gekommen ist, dergl. friedliches Betragen, biß an mein seel. Ende, in obacht nehmen werde:Footnote 94
and I cannot deny that I wish with all my heart to devote my remaining years of life to God's service and his church … In the hope that your Eminence will now be convinced that I am a fine candidate for the vacant position, I should like to reassure his Grace [that is, Willisch] that:
1) I will take good care (should my application be received with the desired Yes!) not to burden the Christian congregation there with overlong [performances of] church music,
2) by nature my character is such that I make the utmost endeavours to maintain order and harmony at all times when carrying out official tasks and also [wish to emphasize that] not a single complaint has been lodged against me or my subordinates with the Princely Marschallamt over the course of more than three decades of service here [at the court of Anhalt-Zerbst]. [Furthermore,] I will take care to continue this same peaceful conduct until the day I die.
The highly confidential tone of this letter not only implies that Fasch knew Willisch personally,Footnote 95 but also shows the extent to which Fasch was willing to reinvent himself. Besides offering to shed his identity as a director of music and become a model (Lutheran Orthodox, not Pietist) cantor, Fasch emphasized his spotless employment record as court Kapellmeister and amicable personality. Why? Because Willisch had been involved in a long and difficult dispute with the previous cantor of Freiberg, Johann Friedrich Doles, and did not need to know about Fasch's ongoing feuds with clergy colleagues at Zerbst. In the end, Fasch's attempt to win over the superintendent and sway the Freiberg council in his favour had no impact on his career path whatsoever, since small towns such as Freiberg were not interested in appointing a musician who had previously held an executive position at a court.Footnote 96
By September 1756 Fasch's health and financial situation had deteriorated to the point that a despondent Johanna Friedericka Fasch felt compelled to turn to Prince Friedrich August for help:
Ew: Hochfürstl: Durchl: wird nicht unbekannt seÿn, daß mein Vater durch Kranckheiten und andere Unglücksfälle, in Schulden gerathen war, aus welchen er bißher noch nicht völlig hat kommen können, wie wohl ihm nur noch der kleinste Theil davon, zu bezahlen übrig ist. Da er sich nun bereits in einem hohen Alter befindet, und sehnlichst wünscht, so, wie er [gelebt], will sagen: als ein ehrlicher Mann, zu sterben; als ist sein eifr[igstes Be]streben stets gewesen, zu solchem Entzweck zu gelangen und … schon, binnen zweÿen Jahren, an dem Ende solcher unsrer Sorgen zu s[ein]. Es hat aber dem Höchsten gefallen, meinen Vater vor etlichen Woch[en mit] einer langwierigen und vielkostenden Kranckheit zu belegen, dur[ch die] wir uns aufs neue in Schuld gesezet sahen, indem wir die Unkos[ten derselben], vielleicht nicht mit achtzig rthl [Reichsthalern] werden bestreiten können.Footnote 97
Your Most Serene Highness must be aware that my father has incurred debts because of illnesses and other calamities, which he has not been able to pay off completely, even though there is only a very small amount left to pay. Since he is advanced in age [sixty-eight years], he now longs to die as he has lived: as an honest man. He has always worked hard to reach that goal and … Footnote 98 already, within two years, [he] would have reached the end of his worries. But the Lord God allowed my father to be afflicted with a lengthy and expensive illness which caused us to incur new debts; eighty Thaler will probably not be enough to cover [our expenses].
Since her father's ‘große Kranckheit’ (grave illness) had eaten up almost half of his quarterly wage, they had approached a friend (not identified) to lend them that sum, but now needed to pay him back without fail (‘unwiedersprechlich erse[t]zen müssen’). Had the creditor been Höckh, who reportedly loaned money to Johann Heinrich Heil, organist at Zerbst's St Bartholomäikirche from 1758 until 1764? Or perhaps Fasch turned to the old ‘Freund’ (and fellow-Pietist?) from Köthen who had taken in an ailing eleven-year old Carl for several months around 1747. Footnote 99
Fräulein Fasch – who, judging from the overall tone of the letter, had inherited her father's charm and her mother's money-savvy ways – then courageously asked Prince Friedrich August not only to approve a loan of one hundred Thaler immediately, but also to be patient: they would like to pay it back only after two years had passed, ideally in four instalments of twenty-five Thaler over the course of a third year. That this was not too much to ask is evident from her argument that the Prince had ‘schon einstmahls die Gnade gehabt, meinem Vater solchen Vorschuß angedeÿen zu laßen, welchen er denn vor einiger Zeit wieder richtig abgetragen hat’ (had once before been gracious enough to grant my father such a type of advance, which he paid back properly some time ago). Information on this particular loan seems not to be extant, but there may have been a precedent in 1732, when Fasch wished to borrow three hundred Thaler from Prince Johann August and had also specified the period during which the loan would be repaid as three years.Footnote 100 It is evident that the court considered its Kapellmeister creditworthy throughout his tenure.
Another passage from Johanna Friedericka's letter emphasizes how desperately she wanted to secure the loan:
Sollte aber indeßen mein Vater mit [dem] Tode abgehen, so fiehle das Qvartal darinnen er verstürbe, an das Hochfürstl. Stift anheim, und könnte ich alsdenn an demselben nichts zu fordern haben; auch deßfalls, auf erfordern, unterschreiben.
Should my father happen to die in the meantime [that is, before the loan was paid back fully], then the Princely Consistory would keep [his wage] during the quarter in which his death occurred. And then I would have no right to make any claims [concerning the money]; also, I would be willing to sign an official document to that effect.
It is unclear whether Fasch had asked his daughter to approach the court on his behalf at the time or found out about it afterwards. But he did take the opportunity to describe his pitiful situation once again in early October 1756. On top of everything else, he had suffered a wound on his left foot (‘kalten Brand am lincken Fuße’), resulting in bills from medical professionals such as the ‘Herrn Medicum [and the] Herrn Chirurgum’, as well as the ‘Apotheca’.Footnote 101 Moreover, Fasch assured the court that his son Carl – who had taken a position as harpsichordist at the Royal Prussian Court earlier that year – would not also be a financial burden to the court.Footnote 102
The civil servants in charge of reviewing Fasch's petition were initially not inclined to grant the request. But a determined Fasch kept pressing on and eventually secured the one hundred Thaler loan on 3 March 1757. It came at a steep price: he had pledged ‘sämtliches Mobiliar Vermögen’ (all of his movable assets) as collateral and agreed to begin paying interest after the first year, in March 1758.Footnote 103
Johann Friedrich Fasch died nine months later, on 5 December 1758, having served as court Kapellmeister of Anhalt-Zerbst for over thirty-six years. An expensive funeral for the long-time employee was out of the question, forcing Johanna Friedericka Fasch to organize a quiet burial by herself. Her brother Carl had spent the summer in Zerbst together with his colleague Carl Philip Emanuel Bach and his family in order to escape a war-torn Berlin.Footnote 104 They left a few days before Fasch's passing, for a good reason. Sixteen thousand Prussian soldiers besieged the town on 4 December 1758 in an effort to keep Prince Friedrich August away from home.Footnote 105 In 1801 Karl Friedrich Zelter noted in his biography of Carl Fasch that Fasch senior had continued to pay his son ‘einigen Zuschuß’ (an additional allowance) prior to his death in December 1758.Footnote 106 Being able to offer financial support in the first place must have been important to Fasch, whose own father had died when Fasch was very young.
A sympathetic court paid the customary ‘Witwengeld’, half a year's salary usually reserved for widows, to Fasch's heirs; it is highly likely that Johanna Friedericka used it to pay off her father's creditors.Footnote 107 What happened to this courageous young woman after her father's death in late 1758 cannot be determined, only that she would have been the responsibility of a guardian until she married or died.Footnote 108 Or had she perhaps left for Groß-Kmehlen to live with her mother's relatives (and then lost touch with her brother)?
This article has viewed the successful career and eventful life of Johann Friedrich Fasch through the lens of finance, beginning with his student days in Leipzig and ending with his final days as Kapellmeister of Anhalt-Zerbst. By examing extant letters to the Leipzig church council, the Pietist leader Count Zinzendorf and the princes and princesses of Anhalt-Zerbst, it has been possible to shed light on Fasch's lifelong strained relationship with money. An effective leader blessed with a generous spirit, this ambitious and entrepreneurially-minded musician and composer was keen on advancing his career, but a lack of funds repeatedly prevented him from reaching his goals, such as travelling to Italy to study composition, possibly finishing his university studies in Leipzig or leaving Zerbst for a work environment that was more conducive to practising Pietists. Fortunately, Fasch's finances improved dramatically in 1721, when he was employed as ‘Componist’ for Count Morzin in Prague, and again in 1722, when he moved to Zerbst. His new employer, Prince Johann August, not only permitted his Kapellmeister to travel frequently and generate extra income while away, but also financed a lengthy stay intended to enhance his compositional skills in Dresden in 1726–1727. Moreover, Johann August granted his director of music both a raise and a huge, one-off bonus for a job well done in 1737.
The fact that Fasch's debt profile was dismal during the 1720s and deteriorated once again during the 1750s was clearly related to his inability to manage his finances and successfully cope with events beyond his control. How Fasch accumulated debts as a student in Leipzig and why he failed (or perhaps refused?) to pay them off in his early years must remain a mystery at this time owing to a lack of relevant primary sources. But the composer obviously spent a lot of money on his family, whose well-being was an important priority for him, especially the education of his children. He sent two of them to boarding school (Sophia to Köthen and Carl to Magdeburg) and also facilitated, at great expense, a year of intensive study for his musically talented son in Strelitz. Nor was Fasch lazy. Zelter described the Kapellmeister of Anhalt-Zerbst as follows: ‘Der Vater [ging] des Morgens gleich nach seiner Andacht und seinem Frühstück an seine Arbeit … , [schrieb] den ganzen Tag … und [stieg] mit der letzten Note wieder in sein Bette’ (In the morning, the father set to work immediately after his devotions and breakfast … , composed all day long … and with the last note returned to his bed).Footnote 109 Moreover, the impressive size and contents of the – by no means complete – court Zerbst music inventory emphasize Fasch's work ethic, professional integrity and reputation as a composer, if not, indeed, a compulsive need to work.Footnote 110 Did Fasch's personal debts affect his productivity as a composer? On the contrary: not demanding payment for the hundreds of works he composed for Dresden, but rather exchanging them for new music, and organizing a music exchange from Zerbst for over three decades are poignant examples of the composer's ongoing commitment to building a strong musical community around him. Perhaps he had modelled this after the Pietist faith communities he supported in person, and possibly also financially, both in and outside of Zerbst. Finally, the fact that Fasch was ready to leave behind a lucrative Kapellmeister position for a less prestigious one of cantor that paid only a fraction of the salary demonstrates that he valued a peaceful work environment more than money and prestige.
In conclusion, it is highly likely that Fasch had indeed been an ‘honourable man’ throughout his life. At the same time, he had only himself to blame for accumulating huge debts in the first place and, as a result, never gaining a solid financial footing. Fasch coped with the social stigma of debt by relying on his own strength of character and deep faith, the love he shared especially with his second wife Johanna Helena, good health and (for the most part) continuously generous and supportive employers. All this made him, the debtor, truly wealthy and his life worth living.
