Johann Georg Pisendel

Johann Georg Pisendel (Cadolzburg, 1687 – Dresden, 1755) was one of the most distinguished violinists in Germany of his day and, to a lesser extent, a composer. His family came from Markneukirchen, but his father settled in Cadolzburg in 1680 as a cantor. Pisendel's career, which straddled the German courts and the Italian musical centres, illustrates well the circulation of styles in the first half of the eighteenth century.

He entered the chapel of the court of Ansbach as a boy in 1697, and in 1703 joined the court orchestra as a violinist. There he studied singing with Pistocchi and violin with Torelli. In 1709 he travelled to Leipzig, stopping in Weimar, where he met Bach. In the university city he pursued his studies and soon became integrated into the musical circles, going so far as to deputise for Melchior Hoffmann in the collegium musicum and the opera orchestra during the latter's tour in 1710. A year later he visited Darmstadt, took part in a performance of Graupner's opera Telemach, but turned down a permanent post at the court.

From January 1712 he worked in the Dresden court orchestra. Following Volumier's death in 1728, he took on the duties of Konzertmeister, a post formally confirmed to him in 1730. His early years in Dresden included several journeys with the Prince Elector: to France in 1714, to Berlin in 1715 and to Italy in 1716–1717. The Italian sojourn was decisive. In Venice, for some nine months from April 1716, he studied with Vivaldi and forged a close friendship with him. He then visited Rome, where he received lessons from Montanari, and then Naples and other cities, before returning to Dresden in autumn 1717. After a trip to Vienna in 1718, his travels became less frequent, although he accompanied his sovereign to Berlin in 1728 and 1744 and to Warsaw in 1734.

His contemporaries regarded him as the leading German violinist of his era. Quantz praised his manner of playing slow movements, and Hasse highlighted his rhythmic security. Vivaldi, Albinoni and Telemann dedicated works to him. As a conductor he was admired for his precision and thoroughness; it is said that, before premiering a new work, he annotated each part with details of bowing and expression. Although his duties left him little time to compose, his small instrumental output is of notable quality. A pupil of Heinichen in composition, his violin concertos follow the Vivaldian model closely, with some traits of a more pronounced galant style. His sonata for solo violin, dated around 1716 according to Jung, is considered a notable work within the German tradition and may have influenced Bach's partitas and sonatas for solo violin.

Pisendel was also an important collector of music in central Germany; much of the scores he gathered were eventually incorporated into the holdings of the Dresden chapel. Among his most celebrated pupils were J. G. Graun and Franz Benda.