Christian Petzold

Christian Petzold (1677 – before 2 June 1733) was a German composer and organist. He was active primarily in Dresden, and achieved a high reputation during his lifetime, but his surviving works are few. The famous menuet, Minuet in G major, previously attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach, has been established in the 1970s as a piece by Petzold.Williams, Peter F.. 2007. J.S. Bach: A Life in Music, p. 158. Cambridge University Press.Schulenberg, David. 2006. The Keyboard Music of J.S. Bach, p. 448 and elsewhere.

Life

He was born in Königstein, Saxony in 1677; the exact date of birth is unknown. From 1703 Petzold worked as organist at St. Sophia (Sophienkirche) in Dresden, and in 1709 he became court chamber composer and organist. He led an active musical life, giving concert tours that took him as far as Paris (1714) and Venice (1716). In 1720 he wrote a piece for the consecration of the new Silbermann organ at St. Sophia, and he performed a similar task at Rötha, near Leipzig, where another Silbermann organ was built. Petzold was also active as a teacher. His pupils included Carl Heinrich Graun. Nothing is known about the circumstances of Petzold's death. The date is usually given as 2 July 1733, yet his vacancy at the court was filled on 22 June, and a surviving letter of application for this vacancy (by Christoph Schaffrath) is dated 2 June.

Contemporaries held Petzold in high regard.......
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