(b Zerbst, Nov 18, 1736; d Berlin, Aug 3, 1800). German conductor and composer. He was baptized Christian Friedrich Carl; the above order of names is the one commonly preferred. He was the son of the Kapellmeister Johann Friedrich Fasch, from whom he had his first keyboard and theory instruction. Later he studied the violin with Carl Höckh, leader of the Zerbst court orchestra, and when he was 14 his father sent him to study for a year with Johann Wilhelm Hertel, leader of the orchestra at the Mecklenburg court in Strelitz. While in Strelitz, he had the opportunity to accompany the Berlin violinist Franz Benda, who was so impressed with the boy's playing that in 1756 he recommended Fasch for the position of second harpsichordist at the court of Frederick the Great. There he shared with C.P.E. Bach the responsibility for accompanying the king's flute playing. Shortly after his arrival in Berlin, however, the Seven Years War began, allowing the king little time for music. Since the musicians' salaries during this period were worth so much less, Fasch turned to teaching and composing to supplement his income. In ...