Violin Recital

Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht - Fringe concert

Gabrielle Wunsch, violin
Rebecca Rosen, cello
Cvetanka Sozovska, harpsichord


ALBINONI  Sonata in Bb major for violin and basso continuo
ANON (variously attributed to J.S. Bach & J.G. Pisendel)  Sonata in C minor for violin and basso continuo
PISENDEL  Sonata in A minor for solo violin
VIVALDI  Sonata in C major for violin and basso continuo


Johann Georg Pisendel was the leading German violinist of his day. Not only did he enjoy personal friendships with an impressive number of his contemporaries (most notable are Vivaldi, J.S. Bach and Telemann), but Vivaldi, Albinoni, and Telemann all dedicated works to him as well. His influential position as concertmaster of the Dresden Hofkapelle and his avid commissioning of works from his contemporaries assured an especially vibrant and diverse musical scene at Dresden. The manuscript collections at Dresden show Pisendel as one of the most important collectors of music in central Germany. He was extremely well traveled, and a trip in 1716 with lengthy stays in first Venice and then Rome in which he studied with Vivaldi and Montanari had a particularly profound impact on both his performance and compositions. It was in this trip that Vivaldi became a friend, and he returned a few years later to continue his studies with him. Pisendel was by no means a prolific composer, but his small output of instrumental music is of the highest quality, and the Italianate influence is strong, both in style and in structure.

This program explores Pisendel, his friendships, and the Italian influence at the court of Dresden, centering around the music of Pisendel and works dedicated to him by Italian composers. All of the music is from the former Dresden court library, now the Sächsische Landesbibliothek, and is from Pisendel’s private collection. The solo violin sonata, dated approximately 1716 by H.R. Jung, may have influenced Bach’s music for the unaccompanied violin. German musicologists have for years been disputing the authenticity of the sonata in C minor (BWV 1024), unable to find convincing proof of JS Bach’s authorship or reliably refute it either. Neither of the two surviving sources (one in Dresden) name its author, and once the Dresden copy was ascertained to be in the hand of Pisendel he became a candidate for authorship as well. However, as the library in Dresden will attest, Pisendel copied out the pieces of many other composers, so it could also be the work of a third party. Regardless of the truth and of the mystery surrounding it, its quality alone renders it worthy of inclusion.