Johann Pfeiffer (1697-1761) - Overture in G
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Composer: Johann Pfeiffer (1697-1761)
Work: Overture in G
Performers: Batzdorfеr HofkapеIIe
Painting: Johann Wolfgang Baumgartner (1702-1761) - The Prodigal Son Living with Harlots
Further info: https://www.laquintademahler.com/shop/detalle.aspx?id=45247
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Johann Pfeiffer
(Nuremberg, 1 January 1697 - Bayreuth, 7 October 1761)
German composer and violinist. He learnt the violin with various teachers and later studied jurisprudence at the universities of Leipzig (from 1717) and Halle-Wittenberg (from 1719). He spent six months as director of music for Count Heinrich XI von Reuss at Schleiz before entering the Weimar court orchestra as a violinist in 1720. In 1726 he was made Konzertmeister, a post apparently left vacant since J.S. Bach's departure in 1717. Pfeiffer's Trauermusik for Duke Ernst August's late wife, Eleonore Wilhelmine, was performed later that year, and between August 1728 (or 1729) and January 1730 he accompanied the duke on a tour of the Low Countries and France. In or about May 1732 Pfeiffer was in Berlin, and in December 1733 he was offered a post at Bayreuth as a court violinist and music tutor to the margrave's daughter-in-law, Friederike Wilhelmine (sister of the future King Frederick the Great). On 8 November 1734 he was appointed Kapellmeister at Bayreuth with a salary of 300 gulden (increased to 480 gulden by 1737). Friederike's husband succeeded as margrave in May 1735, and together they set about expanding the musical life at court, and thereby increasing Pfeiffer's opportunities as a composer. On 20 September 1752 he married the widowed Dorothea Hagin, by whom he had two sons, Friederich (1754–1816), a lawyer by profession and an able violinist, and Johann Heinrich, who died in infancy. In 1752 or 1753 Pfeiffer was awarded the honorary title of ‘Hofrat’ (privy councillor), and his salary was increased; by the time of his death it stood at 1375 Reichsthaler.
Much of Pfeiffer's music is lost, or remains unidentified or misattributed (he usually signed his manuscripts simply ‘del Sign. Pfeiffer’). According to Schrickel, he distinguished himself at Weimar by composing charming Singspiels, but except for the Bayreuth serenata Das unterthänigste Freudenopfer, no such works by him are known, and only two vocal pieces (possibly from stage works) remain. Despite claims advanced by Gerber and Fétis, no sacred music by him has been found. Instrumental music forms the bulk of his output, most of it undoubtedly composed at Bayreuth. In style it is perhaps most closely comparable with that of Bach. Both Gerber and Schilling comment on the high regard in which his ouvertures (orchestral suites) were held. Five of these recall Bach's first suite in their scoring for two oboes, bassoon and strings; they consist typically of a French overture, a forlana-like Cantabile, a fugal Alla breve, a bourrée-like Allegro (or Presto) and a Menuet with a trio for the wind instruments alone. The scoring and structure of the other suites vary considerably. The surviving concertos show both three- and four-movement schemes; the layout slow–fast–slow–fast is one commonly found in the chamber works too. Some of the symphonies attributed to him may be by Johann Michael Pfeiffer. #ClassicalMusic