Petrini

Petrini,family of German musicians, most likely of Italian descent:

(1) Petrini (first name unknown); b. place and date unknown; d. Berlin, 1750. He served at the court of Crown Prince Friedrich (later Friedrich II the Great), where he was active as a harpist and chamber musician. He also was active at the Berlin Opera. C.P.E. Bach held him in high esteem and wrote a harp sonata for him (1740). Petrini had 2 children who became musicians:

(2) (Marie) Thérèse Petrini, singer and harpist; b. Berlin, 1736; d. there, after 1800. She studied voice and harp with her father. After his death, she became a harpist at the court, where she also received vocal instruction from J.F. Agrícola. In 1754 she became a singer and harpist at the chapel of Margrave Karl Albrecht of Brandenburg-Schwedt in Berlin, and also gave public concerts as a singer.

(3) Francesco Petrini, harpist, teacher, and composer; b. Berlin, 1744; d. Paris, 1819. He received instruction in harp from his father. In 1765 he became harpist and chamber musician at the Mecklenburg-Schwerin court, where he studied composition. In 1769 he settled in Paris and made his first appearance at the Concert Spirituel in 1770. He composed 4 syms., 5 harp concertos, harp sonatas, and various other harp pieces. He also publ. Méthode de harpe (Paris, n.d.; rev., 1796, as Abrégé de la méthode de harpe avec la manière de l’accorder), Nouveau système de l’harmonie en 60 accords (Paris, 1793), Règles de l’harmonie, rendues plus faciles par une suite le leçons en forme de préludes, op.51 (Paris, n.d.), and Étude préliminaire de la composition, selon le nouveau système de l’harmonie en 60 accords (Paris, 1810).

—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire