Christian Friedrich Penzel (25 November 173714 March 1801) was a German musician. Although he was a composer in his own right, he is remembered more for his association with

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

. He was one of Bach's last pupils and is known for his copies of Bach's works.

School career

Penzel started at the

Thomasschule St. Thomas School, Leipzig (german: Thomasschule zu Leipzig; la, Schola Thomana Lipsiensis) is a co-educational and public boarding school in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1212 and is one of the oldest schools ...

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

in 1749 while Bach held the position of

Thomaskantor (Cantor at St. Thomas) is the common name for the musical director of the , now an internationally known boys' choir founded in Leipzig in 1212. The official historic title of the Thomaskantor in Latin, ', describes the two functions of cantor a ...

. Bach died the following year. After Bach's death, Penzel became a prefect at the school under Bach's successor

Johann Gottlob Harrer Gottlob Harrer (8 May 1703 – 9 July 1755) was a German composer and choir leader. Life Harrer was born in Görlitz, and studied music in Leipzig and Italy. From 1731 he worked in the chapel-choir of Reichsgraf Heinrich von Brühl. Following ...

. The position involved him directing the boys' choir (

Thomanerchor The Thomanerchor (English: St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig) is a boys' choir in Leipzig, Germany. The choir was founded in 1212. The choir comprises about 90 boys from 9 to 18 years of age. The members, called ''Thomaner'', reside in a boarding scho ...

) on occasion. Harrer needed a deputy because he had health problems: he died in 1755 while taking the waters at Carlsbad.

Later career

Penzel studied at

Leipzig University Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...

Works copied by Penzel

The music sung by the Thomanerchor in the 1750s included revivals of Bach's vocal music, which partly explains Penzel's interest in Bach's cantatas. For several cantatas Penzel's copy is the oldest surviving source. He also copied instrumental works including early versions of the

Brandenburg Concertos The ''Brandenburg Concertos'' by Johann Sebastian Bach (Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, BWV 1046–1051), are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt, Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg ...

(for example, what appears to be the earliest version of the first Brandenburg Concerto).Marissen, Michael. (1992). ON LINKING BACH'S F-MAJOR SINFONIA AND HIS HUNT CANTATA. Bach, 23(2), 31–46. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/41634120

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Penzel, Christian Friedrich German composers Pupils of Johann Sebastian Bach People educated at the St. Thomas School, Leipzig Leipzig University alumni Music copyists 1737 births 1801 deaths