David Petersen (born

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

ca. 1650 or 1651 – died

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, before 5 May 1737) was a

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

of north German origin active in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

( United Provinces).Manfredo Kraemer, ''Speelstukken'' CD. His last name is also spelled Pietersen. In the 1670s he travelled to

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

where he was an employee of the newly founded

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. By 1680, however, he had moved to

where he remained for the rest of his career.Rudolf A Rasch, ''Grove'' He is notable for a collection of twelve sonatas for violin and

basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...

published in 1683 entitled ''Speelstukken''. It is the only Dutch publication of its type in this period. There are similar collections of pieces for violin and bass by German composers such as Westhoff and Biber; however the sonatas are closest in style to Johann Jakob Walther's '' Scherzi da Violino solo con il basso continuo'' published in 1676. It is possible that Walther had connections to Amsterdam and may have taught Petersen. Petersen's other compositions include a large number of song settings with continuo in Dutch. They were published in Amsterdam in collaboration with the Dutch poets Abraham Alewijn and Cornelis Sweerts. Petersen is also closely associated with a number of composers such as

Servaes de Koninck Servaes de Koninck, or Servaes de Konink, Servaas de Koninck or Servaas de Konink, or Servaes de Coninck (1653/54 – c.1701) was a Flemish baroque composer of motets, Dutch songs, chamber and incidental music, French airs and Italian cantatas. ...

and Hendrik Anders. Along with

Johannes Schenck Johannes Schenck (or Johan Schenk, 3 June 1660–after 1712) was a Dutch musician and composer. Schenck was born in Amsterdam and baptized in a Catholic hidden church. He became a renowned virtuoso viola da gamba player. His compositions inclu ...

, Carolus Hacquart and Carl Rosier they contributed to a revival of Dutch music and arts in the period before 1710.

Published works

*''Speelstukken'', Amsterdam, 1683 *''Zede- en Harpgezangen met Zangkunst verrykt door David Petersen'' (24 songs to words by Abraham Alewijn), Amsterdam, 1694 *''Vermeerderde Zede- en Harpgezangen'' (words by

Alewijn Abraham Alewijn (16 October 1664, in Amsterdam – 4 October 1721, in Batavia, Dutch East Indies) was a jurist and in his time a well-respected poet, who distinguished himself above his contemporary poets, as evidenced from his ''Zede- en Harpzang ...

), Amsterdam, 1711 *''Zede- en Harpgezangen'' (words by Alewijn), Amsterdam, 1713 *''Zede- en Harpgezangen'' (words by Alewijn), Amsterdam, 1715 *''Boertige en Ernstige Minnezangen'' (music by Petersen and Hendrik Anders; words by Cornelis Sweerts), Amsterdam, 1705 *''Boertige en Ernstige Minnezangen'' (music by Petersen and

De Koninck De Koninck (''The King'' in old Dutch spelling) is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Charles De Koninck (1906–1965), Belgian-Canadian Thomist philosopher and theologian *David de Koninck alternative spelling of David de Coninck ...

, words by Alewijn), Amsterdam, 1705 *''Boertige en Ernstige Minnezangen'' (music by Petersen and De Koninck, words by Alewijn), Amsterdam, 1709 *Incidental music for the play ''Andromeda'', Amsterdam, 1730

Notes

References

*Manfredo Kraemer, CD booklet notes from ''David Petersen: Speelstukken'', Rare Fruits Council, directed by Manfredo Kraemer, Auvidis Astrée E8615, 1998 *Rudolf A Rasch, "Petersen ietersen David", ''New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Petersen, David 1650s births 1737 deaths German Baroque composers Dutch male classical composers Dutch classical composers German classical composers German male classical composers German classical violinists Male classical violinists German violinists German male violinists Musicians from Lübeck 18th-century classical composers 18th-century German composers 18th-century German male musicians