A “well-elaborated four-part instrumental fugue” by Johann Georg Pisendel: the Sonata for orchestra in C minor PW 3:c1a and its reworking in PW 3:c1b

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18239/invesmusic.2025.22.02

Keywords:

Johann Georg Pisendel, orchestral music, fugue, counterpoint, second thoughts

Abstract

The currently known catalogue of orchestral music without soloists by Johann Georg Pisendel (1687-1755) is limited to only five works, of which PW 3:c1b is a revision of the Sonata for orchestra in C minor PW 3:c1a. This article describes some aspects of the reworking process of the German violinist and composer, which highlight – for the first time – the different types of changes made in this composition, some of which seem to derive from the performance practice. The Sonata in C minor, whose original scoring included only the strings (in addition to the basso continuo) without wind instruments, seems to be just one of the “well-elaborated four-part instrumental fugues” (vierstimmige wohlausgearbeitete Instrumentalfugen) mentioned by Johann Friedrich Agricola (1720-1774) in his report of Pisendel’s compositions contained in the anonymous biography of 1767.

Author Biography

  • Fabrizio Ammetto, Universidad de Guanajuato

    FABRIZIO AMMETTO – an Italian performer and musicologist – is a Full Professor of violin, baroque music, musical philology and musicology at the Department of Music and Performing Arts of the University of Guanajuato, Mexico. He is a member of the Core Faculty of Master’s and Doctor’s Degrees at the University of Guanajuato. He is a member of the Association of Italian University Professors of Music (ADUIM), the Mexican Academy of Sciences (AMC) and the Mexican National System of Researchers (SNII), a body set up by the National Council for Science and Technology (CONAHCYT) of Mexico. Fabrizio Ammetto holds degrees in violin, viola, and electronic music, and received a Master’s degree in the methodology and techniques of music education and musicological research from the University of Perugia, and a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of Bologna. He has directed the Civico Istituto Musicale ‘A. Onofri’ of Spoleto, and taught baroque violin at the Conservatorio ‘G. Verdi’ in Turin. As a violinist, violist and conductor, he has given over 800 concerts in Europe and America. He is the founder and director of ‘L’Orfeo Ensemble’ of Spoleto and the ‘Baroque Ensemble’ of the University of Guanajuato. Fabrizio Ammetto has produced numerous critical editions and recordings of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century instrumental music, and has published several articles in international musicological journals, chapters and books, among which are ‘I concerti per due violini di Vivaldi’ (Florence, Olschki, 2013) and ‘El concierto antiguo italiano, 1692-1710’ (Lucca, Libreria Musicale Italiana, 2019). He is a member of the editorial team for the Italian National Edition of the works of Luigi Boccherini (Bologna, Ut Orpheus) and also a member of the international Editorial Committee of the Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi (Venice, Fondazione Giorgio Cini), which oversees the Critical Edition of the works of the Red Priest, for which he has edited the volume containing Vivaldi’s twelve ‘Suonate da camera a tre, Op. I’ (Milan, Ricordi, 2018).

References

Ammetto, F. (2023). Il processo rielaborativo di Johann Georg Pisendel in alcune Sonate per violino e basso continuo. De musica disserenda, XIX(1), pp. 89-112. Disponibile online: https://doi.org/10.3986/dmd19.1.04 (data di consultazione: 28/05/2024).

Ammetto, F., Lupiáñez Ruiz, F. J. & Pinzón Acosta, L. M. (2022). The Thematic Catalogue of the Musical Works of Johann Georg Pisendel (PW): I. The Chamber Music. Ad Parnassum. A Journal on Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Instrumental Music, XX(39), pp. 1-25.

Ammetto, F., Lupiáñez Ruiz, F. J. & Pinzón Acosta, L. M. (2023a). The Thematic Catalogue of the Musical Works of Johann Georg Pisendel (PW): II. The Orchestral Music. Ad Parnassum. A Journal on Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Instrumental Music, XXI(40), pp. 33-69.

Ammetto, F., Lupiáñez Ruiz, F. J. & Pinzón Acosta, L. M. (2023b). The Thematic Catalogue of the Musical Works of Johann Georg Pisendel (PW): III. Lost Compositions and Doubtful Works. Ad Parnassum. A Journal on Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Instrumental Music, XXI(41), pp. 1-25.

Ammetto, F., Lupiáñez Ruiz, F. J. & Pinzón Acosta, L. M. (2024). The Thematic Catalogue of the Musical Works of Johann Georg Pisendel (PW): IV. Cadenzas, Sketches, Adaptations, Addenda, Transcriptions, Other. Ad Parnassum. A Journal on Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Instrumental Music, XXII(42), pp. 1-91.

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Lupiáñez Ruiz, F. J. (2021). Las anotaciones para la ornamentación de Johann Georg Pisendel (1687-1755) en los manuscritos vivaldianos de Dresde (tesi dottorale). Guanajuato: Universidad de Guanajuato.

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Pisendel, J. G. (1995a). Sonata in C minor (D-Dl, Mus.2421-N-2a). Musica Antiqua Köln, Reinhard Goebel (direttore). Berlin: Deutsche Grammophon. Disponibile online: I movimento (“Largo”) in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foDdjc92rCA; II movimento (“Allegro”) in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VedEKAwN1JM (data di consultazione: 29/05/2024).

Pisendel, J. G. (1995b). Sonata in C minor (D-Dl, Mus.2421-N-2b). Freiburger Barockorchester, Gottfried von der Goltz (direttore). New York: BMG Entertainment. Disponibile online: I movimento (“Largo”) in www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww1Yt6GJdfY; II movimento (“Allegro”) in www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiPMZVwxCTM (data di consultazione: 29/05/2024).

Pisendel, J. G. (2011). Sonata for Orchestra in C minor (D-Dl, Mus.2421-N-2a) [edited by Reinhard Goebel]. Middleton (WI): A-R Editions.

Pisendel, J. G. (2013). Sonata in C minor con 2 violini, 2 oboi, viola e basso (D-Dl, Mus.2421-N-2a) [a cura di Mario Bolognani]. Roma: Baroquemusic.it.

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Published

2025-07-27

Issue

No. 22 (2025)

Section

Artículos

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Copyright (c) 2025 Fabrizio Ammetto

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How to Cite

A “well-elaborated four-part instrumental fugue” by Johann Georg Pisendel: the Sonata for orchestra in C minor PW 3:c1a and its reworking in PW 3:c1b. (2025). Cuadernos De Investigación Musical, 22, 19-39. https://doi.org/10.18239/invesmusic.2025.22.02