Pisendel. Neue Sonaten

Featuring

Javier Lupiáñez
Inés Salinas
Patrícia Vintém
Scaramuccia
Johann Georg Pisendel
Anonymous

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Composer Biography

Pisendel was an exceptional violinist, impressing the concertmaster of the Dresden orchestra, Volumier, in 1711, which led to his official appointment as Premier Violiste u. Cammer-Musicus for the Dresdner Hofkapelle in 1712.

Historical Context

Johann Sebastian Bach noted in 1730 that the Dresden orchestra, where Pisendel was concertmaster, was exceptional because its musicians were well-paid and could focus solely on their instruments, unlike other orchestras where musicians had to worry about earning a living.

Composition History

Pisendel was a passionate music collector, and his personal collection of scores, known as Schrank II, contains about 1,800 manuscripts, including his own sketches and annotations, which are immensely valuable as such documents were often destroyed.

Composer Biography

Johann Georg Pisendel, born in 1687, began his musical training at age nine as a chorister in the Royal Chapel of Ansbach, where he studied with Giuseppe Torelli, a highly esteemed musician and teacher of Antonio Vivaldi.

Interpretation

The performers on this album have extensively ornamented the sonatas, adding florid passages, cadenzas, and varied repetitions, based on a thorough study of Pisendel's performance style, with many ornamentations directly from his manuscripts.

Album & Artwork

This album features the world premiere recording of several sonatas by Johann Georg Pisendel, a celebrated violinist and composer of the 18th century.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Pisendel was very cautious about publishing his compositions, constantly reworking them, which led to a small but high-quality catalogue of less than thirty pieces, despite his long career as instrumental music director in Dresden.