F.
F Line 8 of article, for Æolian read Lydian. Add that one of Beethoven's notes to Steiner is signed
FACCIO, Franco, born March 8, 1840,[1] at Verona, of parents in humble circumstances, who deprived themselves almost of the necessaries of life in order to give their son a musical education. In Nov. 1855 he entered the Conservatorio of Milan, where he made remarkable progress in composition under Ronchetti. An overture by him was played at one of the students' concerts in 1860. In the following year he left the institution, and on Nov. 10, 1863, he had the good fortune to have a three-act opera, 'I Profughi Fiamminghi,' performed at La Scala. Before this a remarkable work, written in collaboration with his friend Boito, and entitled 'Le Sorelle d'ltalia,' had been performed at the Conservatorio. [See vol. iv. p.550.] The same friend, for whom he had formed a warm attachment during the time of their studentship, wrote him the libretto of 'Amleto,' which was given with success at the Teatro Carlo Fenice, at Genoa, on May 30, 1865 (not at Florence, as Pougin states), but which was unfavourably received at the Scala in Feb. 1871. In 1866 'he fought, together with Boito, in the Garibaldian army, and in 1867–8 undertook a tour in Scandinavia. A symphony in F dates from about this time. In July 1868 he succeeded Croff as professor of harmony in the Conservatorio, and after acquiring great experience as a conductor at the Teatro Carcano, was made conductor at La Scala. A Cantata d'inaugurazione was performed in 1884, and two sets of songs by him have been published by Ricordi. Faccio holds an important position among the advanced musicians of Italy, and as a composer his works command attention by their originality. It is, however, as a conductor that he is most successful, and he may be considered as the greatest living Italian conductor. He directed the first European performance of Verdi's 'Aïda' in 1872, and the production of his 'Otello' in 1887, both at Milan.
FA FICTUM. In the system of Guido d'Arezzo, B♮, the third sound in the Hexachordum naturale was called B mi; and B♭, the fourth sound in the Hexachordum molle, B fa. And, because B fa could not be expressed without the accidental sign (B rotundum) it was called Fa fictum. [See Hexachord.] For this reason, the Polyphonic Composers applied the term Fa fictum to the note B♭, whenever it was introduced, by means of the accidental sign, into a Mode sung at its natural pitch; and, by analogy, to the E♭ which represented the same interval in the transposed Modes. The Fa fictum is introduced, with characteristic effect, in the 'Gloria Patri' of Tallis's five-part Responses, at the second syllable of the word 'without'; and a fine example of its employment in the form of the transposed E♭ will be found in Giaches Archadelt's Madrigal, 'Il bianco e dolce cigno,' at the second and third syllables of the word 'piangendo,' as shown in the example in vol. ii. p.188 b.
FAISST, Emmanuel Gottlob Friedrich, born Oct. 13, 1823, at Esslingen in Würtemberg, was sent to the seminary at Schönthal in 1836, and in 1840 to Tübingen, in order to study theology; but his musical talents, which had previously shown themselves in the direction of great proficiency on the organ, were too strong, and, although he received no direct musical instruction worth mentioning, he had made such progress in composition by 1844 that when he went to Berlin and shewed his productions to Mendelssohn, that master advised him to work by himself rather than attach himself to any teacher. In 1846 he appeared in public as an organ-player in many German towns, and finally took up his abode in Stuttgart. Here in 1847 he founded an organ school and a society for the study of church music. He undertook the direction of several choral societies, and in 1857 took a prominent part in the foundation of the Conservatorium, to tho management of which he was appointed two years later. Some time before this the University of Tübingen bestowed upon him the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, in recognition of the value of his 'Beiträge zum Geschichte der Claviersonate,' an important contribution to the musical periodical 'Cäcilia,' and the title of Professor was given him a few years afterwards. In 1865 he was appointed organist of the Stiftskirche, and received a prize for his choral work 'Gesang im Grünen,' at the choral festival in Dresden. His setting of Schiller's 'Macht des Gesanges' was equally successful in the following year with the Schlesische Sängerbund. His compositions are almost entirely confined to church music and choral compositions. A cantata 'Des Sängers Wiederkehr' was recently performed. Several quartets for male voices, and organ pieces have been published collectively, and the Lebert and Stark 'Pianoforteschule' contains a double fugue by him. With the latter he published in 1880 an 'Elementar-und-Chorgesangschule,' which has considerable value.
- ↑ Paloschi. Fougin gives the date as 1841. Various articles in the 'Gazetta musicale di Milano' support either date indifferently.
