Christian Petzold
Encyclopedia
Christian Petzold was a German
composer
and organist
. He was active primarily in Dresden
, 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
, was in fact the work of Petzold.
, 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
(1714) and Venice
(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
. Nothing is known about the circumstances of Petzold's death. The date is usually given as 2 July 1733, yet his vacancy at the court was filled on 22 June, and a surviving letter of application for this vacancy (by Christoph Schaffrath
) is dated 2 June.
Contemporaries held Petzold in high regard. Johann Mattheson
and Ernst Ludwig Gerber
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
, compiled by Anna Magdalena Bach
and her husband Johann Sebastian Bach
. One of these minuets, the Minuet in G major, achieved wide recognition, but for decades was attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach. Petzold's authorship was only established in 1970s.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
. He was active primarily in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, 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
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
, was in fact the work of Petzold.
Life
He was born in Königstein, Saxony in 1677; the exact date of birth is unknown. From 1703 Petzold worked as organist at St. Sophia (Sophienkirche) in DresdenDresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, 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
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
(1714) and Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
(1716). In 1720 he wrote a piece for the consecration of the new Silbermann
Gottfried Silbermann
Gottfried Silbermann was an influential German constructor of keyboard instruments. He built harpsichords, clavichords, organs, and fortepianos; his modern reputation rests mainly on the latter two.-Life:...
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
Carl Heinrich Graun was a German composer and tenor singer. Along with Johann Adolf Hasse, he is considered to be the most important German composer of Italian opera of his time.-Biography:...
. Nothing is known about the circumstances of Petzold's death. The date is usually given as 2 July 1733, yet his vacancy at the court was filled on 22 June, and a surviving letter of application for this vacancy (by Christoph Schaffrath
Christoph Schaffrath
Christoph Schaffrath is best known as a musician and composer of classical western music of the late Baroque to Classical transition era.-Career:...
) is dated 2 June.
Contemporaries held Petzold in high regard. Johann Mattheson
Johann Mattheson
Johann Mattheson was a German composer, writer, lexicographer, diplomat and music theorist.Mattheson was born and died in Hamburg. He was a close friend of George Frideric Handel, although he nearly killed him in a sudden quarrel, during a performance of Mattheson's opera Cleopatra in 1704...
and Ernst Ludwig Gerber
Ernst Ludwig Gerber
Ernst Ludwig Gerber was a German composer and author of a famous dictionary of musicians....
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
Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach
The title Notebook for 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
Anna Magdalena Bach
Anna Magdalena Bach was the second wife of Johann Sebastian Bach.-Biography:...
and her husband Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
. One of these minuets, the Minuet in G major, achieved wide recognition, but for decades was attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach. Petzold's authorship was only established in 1970s.
Solo instrumental
- Recueil de 25 concerts pour le clavecin (1729), 25 harpsichord pieces
- Orgeltabulatur (1704), chorale settings for organ
- 11 fugueFugueIn music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....
s for organ or harpsichord - A suiteSuiteIn music, a suite is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed in a concert setting rather than as accompaniment; they may be extracts from an opera, ballet , or incidental music to a play or film , or they may be entirely original movements .In the...
and single pieces for harpsichord