The Networker

Article By Sally Melhuish

Boasting many virtuosic musicians who are still well known today, the Dresden Court Orchestra was the most famous orchestra in Europe during the 18th century. Composers including Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1743), Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751) and Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688-1758) all wrote music for the orchestra, which included Francesco Maria Veracini (playing violin) Pierre-Gabriel Buffardin and his student Johann Joachim Quantz (flute), Carl Frederich Abel (viola da gamba), Jan Dismas Zelenka (double bass) and Sylvius Leopold Weiss (lute).

Not so well known to us, however, is the man who was the heart and soul of the orchestra. During his 43-year association, including 27 years as concert master of the orchestra, the virtuosic violinist Johann Georg Pisendel (1687-1755) gathered and inspired a remarkable group of musicians and composers from throughout Europe.

The orchestra gained its formidable reputation through highly disciplined playing that paid particular attention to dynamics, articulation and ornamentation. Pisendel instilled in his musicians the importance of strictly following the composer’s score markings. In a letter to Telemann, Pisendel wrote that he had decided not to continue employing Italians because they “tended to be self-directed and play without listening to others” (1752).

The orchestra was also notable for performing repertoire that was unparalleled in Europe, both in volume and variety, reflecting the richness of the composers’ musical origins. The Dresden Court in the early 18th Century was a flourishing cultural centre of music, art and architecture under the rule of Friedrich August II (Crown Prince of Saxony and later King of Poland). Pisendel took advantage of tours accompanying the Crown Prince to France, Italy, Berlin, Vienna and Warsaw to source manuscripts, beginning his life-long passion for collecting and eventually amassing more than 2,000 music scores.

Pisendel was also a fastidious music copyist, but with the quantity of new repertoire and the large number of musicians involved, it was necessary for the Court to employ a number of copyists, although some were clearly not as skilled as required. In his Concerto in A major for violin per Pisendel, RV 340, Vivaldi felt the need to include additional bass figures and the inscription “per li coglioni” (“for the blockheads”) for the benefit of the copyist.

Pisendel’s own compositional output is small, perhaps due to the many demands on his time. Similar to the compositions by JS Bach and Telemann, Pisendel’s works reveal his extensive knowledge of German, French and Italian compositional styles and include ten violin concertos and four orchestral concertos. And he clearly did not restrict his skills to his own works. Surviving manuscripts of Johann Fasch’s Concerto in G Major for Two Oboes, FWV L G9 reveal a number of additions to Fasch’s original work. As the copyist, Pisendel composed an alternative ending and added new parts for the soloists, amongst other amendments.

As well as his significant and diverse collection of music, perhaps Pisendel’s greatest legacy is the reverence in which he was held by so many musicians throughout Europe, many of whom became close friends and dedicated works to him. Georg Philipp Telemann spoke for many in an Ode to his dear friend Johann Georg Pisendel on his death in 1755:

“Death has wrenched you from me.
What a treasure have I lost!
What excellence has died with you!”

Friday 11 October 2024, 7.30pm
Fairfax Theatre, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Sunday 13 October 2024, 3.00pm
Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music