Christian Petzold (composer)

German composer and organist

For the filmmaker, see Christian Petzold (director).

Christian Petzold

Born| 1677
Died| 1733 (aged 55-56)
Occupations|

* Composer
* Organist

Christian Petzold (1677 – 1733) 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. The sprightly melody was used in the 1965 pop music hit "A Lover's Concerto" by the American group The Toys.[1][2][3]

## Life[edit]

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) in Dresden, 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.

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 was appointed in Petzold's place, while the Italian composer Giovanni Alberto Ristori became the court organist.

## Legacy[edit]

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 centuries was attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach. Petzold's authorship was only established in the 1970s.[4]

Petzold always signed his name as Pezold.[citation needed]

## Selected works[edit]

### Vocal[edit]

* Cantata Meine Seufzer, meine Klagen

### Ensemble[edit]

* Three trio sonatas

### Solo instrumental[edit]

* Minuets in G major and G minor
* Two partitas for solo viola d'amore
* Recueil de 25 concerts pour le clavecin (1729), 25 harpsichord solo concertos
* Orgeltabulatur (1704), chorale settings for organ
* 11 fugues for organ or harpsichord
* A suite and single pieces for harpsichord

## Notes[edit]

1. ^ Wolff, Christoph (2001). "Bach. III. 7. Johann Sebastian Bach. Works". In Sadie, Stanley; Tyrrell, John (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.‎
2. ^ Williams, Peter F.. 2007\. J.S. Bach: A Life in Music, p. 158\. Cambridge University Press.
3. ^ Schulenberg, David. 2006. The Keyboard Music of J.S. Bach, p. 448 and elsewhere.
4. ^ Schulze, Hans-Joachim. "Ein 'Dresdner Menuett' im zweiten Klavierbüchlien der Anna Magdalena Bach. Nebst Hinweisen zur Überlieferung einiger Kammermusikwerke Bachs." Bach-Jahrbuch (1979 pp. 45–64), pp. 54–58, 64.

## References[edit]

* Härtwig, Dieter (2001). "Christian Pezold (Petzold)". In Sadie, Stanley; Tyrrell, John (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.‎

## External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Christian Petzold (composer).

* Free scores by Christian Petzold at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)

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Compositions spuriously attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach

by Antonio Caldara|

* Sanctus in D minor, BWV 239

by Johann Ernst Bach II|

* Cantata Mein Odem ist schwach (BWV 222) and motet Unser Wandel ist im Himmel (BWV Anh. III 165)

by Johann Ludwig Bach|

* Easter cantata Denn du wirst meine Seele nicht in der Hölle lassen, JLB 21 (BWV 15)

by Melchior Hoffmann|

* Magnificat in A minor (Meine Seele erhebt den Herren, BWV Anh. 21)
* Cantata Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde (BWV 53)
* Cantata Meine Seele rühmt und preist (BWV 189)

by Christian Petzold|

* Minuets in G major and G minor, BWV Anh. III 114–115
* BWV Anh. 114 melody in "A Lover's Concerto"

by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel|

* Aria "Bist du bei mir" (BWV 508)
* Aria "Dein Kreuz, o Bräutgam meiner Seelen", from Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld, model for Bekennen will ich seinen Namen, BWV 200

by Georg Philipp Telemann|

* Cantata Das ist je gewißlich wahr, TWV 1:183 (BWV 141)
* Cantata Gott der Hoffnung erfülle euch, TWV 1:634 (BWV 218)
* Cantata Ich weiß, daß mein Erlöser lebt, TWV 1:877 (BWV 160)
* Cantata Siehe, es hat überwunden der Löwe, TWV 1:1328 (BWV 219)

by Pietro Torri|

* Magnificat in C major, BWV Anh. 30

by Daniel Vetter|

* Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben, BWV 8/6, closing chorale of Cantata Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben? BWV 8

by unknown composer|

* Kyrie–Gloria Mass for double choir, BWV Anh. 167
* Cantata Uns ist ein Kind geboren (BWV 142)

* List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach
* BWV Anh.

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