Christian Petzold (1677 – 1733) was a German
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
and
organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...
. He was active primarily in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
, and achieved a high reputation during his lifetime, but his surviving works are few. It was established in the 1970s that the famous
Minuet in G major, previously attributed to
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 ...
, was in fact the work of Petzold. The sprightly melody was used in the 1965 pop music hit "
A Lover's Concerto
"A Lover's Concerto" is a pop song written by American songwriters Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell, based on the 18th century composition by Christian Petzold, " Minuet in G major", and recorded in 1965 by the Toys. "A Lover's Concerto" sold ...
" by the American group
The Toys
The Toys were an American pop girl group from Jamaica, New York, which was formed in 1961 and disbanded in 1968. Their most successful recording was "A Lover's Concerto" (1965), which sold more than two million copies and reached the number-tw ...
.
Life
He was born in Weißig near
Königstein in 1677; the exact date of birth is unknown.
From 1703 Petzold worked as an organist at St. Sophia (''
Sophienkirche
The Sophienkirche (Saint Sophia's Church) was a church in Dresden.
It was located on the northeast corner of the Postplatz (post office square) in the old town before it was severely damaged in the Dresden bombing in 1945 and subsequently destr ...
'') in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
, and in 1709 he became court chamber composer and organist. He led an active musical life, giving concert tours that took him as far as
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
(1714) and
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
(1716). In 1720 he wrote a piece for the consecration of the new
Silbermann organ at St. Sophia, and he performed a similar task at Rötha, near Leipzig, where another Silbermann organ was built. Petzold was also active as a teacher. His pupils included
Carl Heinrich Graun
Carl Heinrich Graun (7 May 1704 – 8 August 1759) was a German composer and tenor. Along with Johann Adolph Hasse, he is considered to be the most important German composer of Italian opera of his time.
Biography
Graun was born in Wahrenbrüc ...
.
Petzold died on 25 May 1733 and was buried three days later. His cause of death was recorded in the Dresden Kirchenwochenzettel as "Steckfluß" (choking rheum). The exact date of Petzold's death was given by the Dresden court musician Johann Samuel Kaÿser, who on 27 May 1733 petitioned for Petzold's position as organist in the St. Sophia. As is well known,
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (22 November 17101 July 1784), the second child and eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach, was a German composer and performer. Despite his acknowledged genius as an organist, improviser and composer ...
was appointed in Petzold's place, while the Italian composer
Giovanni Alberto Ristori
Giovanni Alberto Ristori (1692 - 7 February 1753) was an Italian opera composer and conductor.
He was the son of Tommaso Ristori, the leader of an opera troupe belonging to the King of Poland and Elector of Saxony August II the Strong (based in ...
became the court organist.
Legacy
Contemporaries held Petzold in high regard.
Johann Mattheson
Johann Mattheson (28 September 1681 – 17 April 1764) was a German composer, singer, writer, lexicographer, diplomat and music theorist.
Early life and career
The son of a prosperous tax collector, Mattheson received a broad liberal education ...
and
Ernst Ludwig Gerber
Ernst Ludwig Gerber (29 September 1746 in Sondershausen, Germany – 30 June 1819 in Sondershausen) was a German composer, organist, cellist, and author of a famous dictionary of musicians.
His father, Heinrich Nikolaus Gerber (1702–1775), ...
both praised his skills, referring to him as "one of the most famous organists" and "one of the most pleasant church composers of the time", respectively. However, only a few of Petzold's pieces are extant today. He is best remembered for a pair of minuets that were copied into the 1725 ''
Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach
The title ''Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach'' (german: Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach) refers to either of two manuscript notebooks that the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach presented to his second wife, Anna Magdalena. ...
'', compiled by
Anna Magdalena Bach and her husband
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 ...
. One of these minuets, the
Minuet in G major, achieved wide recognition, but for centuries was attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach. Petzold's authorship was only established in the 1970s.
[ Schulze, Hans-Joachim. "Ein 'Dresdner Menuett' im zweiten Klavierbüchlien der Anna Magdalena Bach. Nebst Hinweisen zur Überlieferung einiger Kammermusikwerke Bachs." '']Bach-Jahrbuch
The ''Bach-Jahrbuch'' ("Bach yearbook" or according to the publication's website "Bach Annals") is an Periodical literature, annual publication related to the composer Bach.
It is published in German by the Neue Bachgesellschaft in Leipzig. It is t ...
'' (1979 pp. 45–64), pp. 54–58, 64.
Petzold always signed his name as Pezold.
Selected works
Vocal
* Cantata ''Meine Seufzer, meine Klagen''
Ensemble
* Three
trio sonata
The trio sonata is a genre, typically consisting of several movements, with two melody instruments and basso continuo. Originating in the early 17th century, the trio sonata was a favorite chamber ensemble combination in the Baroque era.
Basic str ...
s
Solo instrumental
*
Minuets in G major and G minor
The Minuets in G major and G minor, BWV Anh. 114 and 115, are a pair of movements from a suite for harpsichord by Christian Petzold, which, through their appearance in the 1725 ''Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach'', used ...
* Two
partita
Partita (also ''partie'', ''partia'', ''parthia'', or ''parthie'') was originally the name for a single-instrumental piece of music (16th and 17th centuries), but Johann Kuhnau (Thomaskantor until 1722), his student Christoph Graupner, and Johann ...
s for solo
viola d'amore
The viola d'amore (; Italian for "viol of love") is a 7- or 6- stringed musical instrument with sympathetic strings used chiefly in the baroque period. It is played under the chin in the same manner as the violin.
Structure and sound
The viol ...
* ''Recueil de 25 concerts pour le clavecin'' (1729), 25 harpsichord solo concertos
* ''Orgeltabulatur'' (1704), chorale settings for organ
* 11
fugue
In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...
s for organ or harpsichord
* A
suite and single pieces for harpsichord
Notes
References
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petzold, Christian
1677 births
1733 deaths
People from Königstein, Saxony
17th-century classical composers
17th-century German people
18th-century classical composers
18th-century German people
German classical organists
German male organists
German male classical composers
German Baroque composers
Articles containing video clips
18th-century keyboardists
17th-century German musicians
18th-century German composers
18th-century German male musicians
17th-century male musicians
Male classical organists