Johann Georg Pisendel facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Johann Georg Pisendel
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Portrait of Pisendel, drawn by an artist only known as "Frank"
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| Born | 5 January 1688 [O.S. 26 December 1687] Cadolzburg
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| Died | 25 November 1755 (aged 67) |
| Education | Leipzig University |
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Johann Georg Pisendel (born January 5, 1688 – died November 25, 1755) was a very important German musician from the Baroque period. He was a brilliant violinist and composer. For many years, he led the Court Orchestra in Dresden as its concertmaster. This orchestra was considered the best instrumental group in Europe at that time! Famous composers like Tomaso Albinoni, Georg Philipp Telemann, and Antonio Vivaldi even wrote violin pieces especially for him.
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A Musician's Early Life
Pisendel was born in Cadolzburg, a small town near Nuremberg. His father, Simon Pisendel, was a cantor (a church musician who leads singing) and organist. When Johann Georg was nine, he became a choirboy at the court chapel in Ansbach. Here, he learned from famous musicians. Francesco Antonio Pistocchi was the music director, and Giuseppe Torelli, a violinist and composer, was the concertmaster (the leader of the first violins in an orchestra). It's believed that Pisendel learned to play the violin from Torelli.
After his voice changed, Pisendel continued to play the violin in the Court Orchestra. In 1709, he moved to Leipzig to study music even more.
Meeting Other Greats
On his way to Leipzig, Pisendel met Johann Sebastian Bach in Weimar. Pisendel was also part of the Collegium Musicum. This was a group of musicians who played together, started by Georg Philipp Telemann. Pisendel even conducted the group in 1710 and 1711.
In 1711, he played in an opera by Christoph Graupner in Darmstadt. He was offered a job in the court orchestra there, but he said no.
Joining the Dresden Orchestra
Later in 1711, Pisendel was offered a job as a leading violinist at the Dresden Court Orchestra. He accepted and started in January 1712. While there, he studied composition with Johann David Heinichen. He stayed with the Dresden orchestra for the rest of his life.
The Elector Frederick Augustus II sent Pisendel to represent Dresden's culture in Europe. He traveled to Paris in 1714, to Berlin in 1715, and to Venice in 1716. He stayed in Venice for nine months and studied with the famous composer Antonio Vivaldi.
In 1730, Pisendel officially became the concertmaster of the Dresden Court Orchestra. He had already been doing this job since Jean-Baptiste Volumier died in 1728. Pisendel also taught music to other violinists, including Franz Benda and Johann Gottlieb Graun.
Pisendel died in Dresden in 1755.
Pisendel's Music
Pisendel didn't leave behind a huge number of musical pieces, but the ones he did create are very high quality. All of his surviving works are for instruments. These include ten violin concertos (pieces for violin and orchestra), four concertos for orchestra, and two violin sonatas (pieces for violin, often with piano). His sonata for solo violin in A minor might have even influenced Bach's famous works for solo violin.
It's possible that Bach wrote his violin sonatas for Pisendel. As mentioned before, Tomaso Albinoni, Vivaldi, and Telemann all wrote music especially for Pisendel.
The Schrank II Collection
A special collection of old musical works from the 1700s was kept in something called "Schrank II" (Cabinet II) at the Hofkirche (Court Church) in Dresden. This collection includes the pieces dedicated to Pisendel. It also has many handwritten music sheets with Pisendel's own notes on how to play them, and even scores he copied himself.
The Saxon State and University Library Dresden and the German Research Foundation finished making digital copies of the entire Schrank II collection in 2011. This has allowed researchers to study Pisendel's musical legacy even more closely.
Recordings of Pisendel's Music
You can listen to Pisendel's music on these recordings:
- Pisendel. Neue Sonaten. Newly discovered sonatas for violin and continuo by Pisendel. Scaramuccia (Snakewood Editions, 2020)
- Violin concertos from Dresden. Pisendel, Heinichen, Fasch, Handel, Telemann. Johannes Pramsohler. International Baroque Players. (Raumklang RK 3105)
- J. G. Pisendel: Dresden Concertos. Concerti con varii strumenti (Concertos for various instruments). Performed by the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra with Gottfried von der Goltz and Petra Müllejans, solo violinists, conducted by Gottfried von der Goltz. (Carus 83301)
- Per Monsieur Pisendel. Violin sonatas by Vivaldi, Albinoni, & Pisendel. Performed by La Serenissima conducted by Adrian Chandler (Avie 0018) Six violin sonatas dedicated to or composed by Pisendel himself.
- 1717. Memories of a Journey to Italy. Pisendel, Vivaldi, Montanari, Fanfani, Valentini and Albinoni. Ensemble Scaramuccia. (Snakewood Editions, 2018). Music collected or composed by Pisendel during his journey to Italy 1716–1717
- Concerto in G minor for violin and orchestra, Il pomo d'oro, Dmitry Sinkovsky, violin and conductor. CD Naîve 2019
See also
In Spanish: Johann Georg Pisendel para niños
