Pisendel: Neue Sonaten Scaramuccia

• Johann Georg Pisendel (1687 - 1755): Pisendel. Sonata in E minor:
• 1Pisendel: Sonata in E minor. 1.Largo02:39
• 2Pisendel: Sonata in E minor. 2.Allegro05:00
• 3Pisendel: Sonata in E minor. 3.Arioso02:02
• 4Pisendel: Sonata in E minor. 4.Gigue02:56
• 5Pisendel: Sonata in G major. 1.Largo02:40
• 6Pisendel: Sonata in G major. 2.Allegro04:09
• 7Pisendel: Sonata in G major. 3.Largo02:52
• 8Pisendel: Sonata in G major. 4.Allegro02:49
• Anonymous: Anonymous. Harpsichord sonata:
• 9Anonymous: Harpsichord sonata. 1.Arpeggio00:52
• 10Anonymous: Harpsichord sonata. 2.Allegro02:23
• 11Anonymous: Harpsichord sonata. 3.Larghetto01:02
• 12Anonymous: Harpsichord sonata. 4.Rejouissance01:48
• Johann Georg Pisendel: Pisendel. Sonata in A minor:
• 13Pisendel: Sonata in A minor. 1.Affettuoso03:50
• 14Pisendel: Sonata in A minor. 2.Allegro04:43
• 15Pisendel: Sonata in A minor. 3.Larghetto04:43
• 16Pisendel: Sonata in A minor. 4.Gigue04:44
• Pisendel. Sonata in G major:
• 17Pisendel: Sonata in G major. 1.Largo02:52
• 18Pisendel: Sonata in G major. 2.Allegro ma non troppo02:32
• 19Pisendel: Sonata in G major. 3.Largo02:23
• 20Pisendel: Sonata in G major. 4.Allegro en rondeau04:53
• Total Runtime01:01:52

Info for Pisendel: Neue Sonaten

This recording features the world premiere of unpublished works by Johann Georg Pisendel, concertmaster of the Dresden orchestra and one of the greatest virtuosi of the 18th century, although he is relatively unknown today.

The discovery came about when researching his personal music collection. This collection is, due to its type and size, one of the most important and unique in Europe, and its existence is almost miraculous, having survived several bombings throughout history. In 1896, after more than a hundred years of oblivion, it was discovered and transferred to the slub (Die Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Saxon State and University Library Dresden) where it is preserved today.

This immense collection contains, next to works by great composers such as Vivaldi, Handel and Telemann, a treasure trove of anonymous works, of which only some, thanks to thorough research, have been identified in recent years. Javier Lupiáñez, musicologist and director of Scaramuccia, has identified several of these manuscripts. This year he managed to identify a group of violin sonatas – which until now were anonymous – as genuine Pisendel works. These findings are of great importance since the quality and beauty of the pieces is compounded by the fact that currently the catalog of Pisendel’s works is quite small and has not been updated since the 1950s. Without a doubt, the beauty and virtuosity of these pieces are enough to justify this recording, which also rediscovers one of the greatest virtuosos of the 18th century.

The early music ensemble Scaramuccia discovers and records in 2020 new unpublished works by Johann Georg Pisendel. The findings are of great importance, as they shed light on the work of Pisendel, a composer little known today, despite the fact that in his time he was first violin of the Dresden Orchestra and J. S. Bach, Telemann or Vivaldi dedicated works to him and praised him as one of the greatest virtuosos of his time.

The discovery took place when Javier Lupiáñez, violinist and musicologist from Scaramuccia, was researching Pisendel's personal sheet music collection, which is kept at the SLUB (Sächsische Landesbibliothek - Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden, Saxony State and University Library) in Dresden. This large collection contains, in addition to works by great composers such as Vivaldi, Handel or Telemann, a treasure trove of anonymous works. Among these unsigned manuscripts, Javier Lupiáñez managed to identify a group of violin sonatas as works by Pisendel. The recent discoveries are of great importance, because the catalog of Pisendel's work is, today, quite limited. The research has just been published in the musicology journal Ad Parnassum in its Vol. 18 Number 35.

This is what the specialized press has already said about the album: “ De opname is eveneens een juweel.” (Opus Klassiek); “[…] the three musicians of Scaramuccia also show a lively performance of Pisendel, which, on the basis of sophisticated technique, enables the listener to understand the mature compositional technique and intensity of musical expression.” (Pizzicato); “Unas lecturas de muy alto nivel” (Scherzo, January 2021); “[…] la magnífica toma de sonido que nos brinda un sonido fiel y natural de este tipo de instrumentos. Scaramuccia no nos decepciona y, una vez más, nos muestran un sonido maduro, con buena interacción de sus miembros, variedad de articulaciones y dinámicas, ornamentaciones bien colocadas…”

Pisendel. Neue Sonaten is the world's first recording of these sonatas. It was officially released on December 1, 2020. This album is the second in a large project called The Cabinet II Project, in which Scaramuccia researches the legacy of Schrank II, Pisendel's personal sheet music collection. It is available in physical and online stores in France, Germany and Austria, and distributed worldwide through the label's webshop, Snakewood Editions

Ensemble Scaramuccia:
Javier Lupiañez, violin, direction
Inés Salinas, violoncello
Patrícia Vintém, harpsichord

Ensemble Scaramuccia
was founded on the initiative of the violinist and musicologist Javier Lupiáñez. It debuted at the fringes of Bruges and Utrecht festivals in the summer of 2013 and met with a very positive reception from the audiences and organizers. Since then, the ensemble has gained reputation within the European Early Music scene, often praised for its uniqueness. Among other festivals and venues, Scaramuccia has performed at Internationaal Kamermuziek Festival Utrecht – Janine Jansen and Friends, Kasteelconcerten and Musica Antica da Camera (The Netherlands), Fora do Lugar, Encontros de Música Antiga de Loulé Francisco Rosado and Sente a História (Portugal), Festival Internacional de Arte Sacro de Madrid and Teatro Kursaal de Melilla (Spain), Museum Vleeshuis and Philarmonie de Namur (Belgium), Maldon Festival of Arts (United Kingdom) as well as Festival Echi Lontani (Italy).

In its zeal to discover new music, Scaramuccia had the privilege of being the first ensemble to have attributed the RV 820 and the RV 205/2 to Vivaldi and performing both pieces as a world première in an interview and a live concert broadcast in the programme De Musyck Kamer of the Dutch radio station Concertzender in the summer of 2014. These works, together with other lately-discovered pieces by Vivaldi for violin and basso continuo, were recorded for Ayros in 2015 as part of the ensemble’s first album.

Scaramuccia was awarded the Audience Prize in the Göttinger Reihe Historischer Musik 2015/2016 competition.

The ensemble is currently working on “The Cabinet II Project”, which will take the Listeners on a journey to Dresden, following the footsteps of the great Konzertmeister Johann Georg Pisendel and rediscovering his manuscripts preserved in Schrank II. The project includes a broad range of elements, such as unearthing the musical works, live performances, publishing sheet music and musicological texts as well as CD recordings.

1717. Memories of a Journey to Italy, released in 2018, is the first disc of the series. It has been acclaimed by reviewers all over Europe and nominated for the 2019 ICMA Awards. The second album of the series, Pisendel. Neue Sonaten, has been released in winter 2020. Both albums were launched with the ensemble’s own recording label: Snakewood Editions.

Booklet for Pisendel: Neue Sonaten