Catalog of the Music of Johann Gottlieb Pennuto (?1754-1811)

Main Divisions

FWC I: Music for solo piano, piano four-hands, or two pianos.

Ia: Miscellaneous movements.

Ib: Sonatas.

FWC II: Chamber music.

IIa: Piano & other instruments.

IIb: Strings, alone or with wind combinations.

IIc: Wind Divertimenti.

FWC III: Symphonies.

FWC IV: Dance Music, Orchestral Serenades, & Miscellaneous Orchestral Movements.

FWC V: Concerti.

FWC VI: Pieces for solo voice (concert arias, songs, & other works not included under VII or VIII).

FWC VII: Operas (category includes overtures to lost operas).

FWC VIII: Choral Music (oratorios and other sacred or secular works).

FWC IX: Compositions considered doubtful or presumed spurious (or arrangements of works by other composers [placed in the special category "FWC IXa"]).

List of currently known Pennuto works

FWC I

FWC Ia:1--Rondo for piano solo in A.

FWC Ia:2--"Die Katze" (solo piano movement in B flat).

FWC Ia:3--Minuet for piano solo in A.

FWC Ia:4--"Das rothaarige Mädchen" (solo piano movement in G).

FWC Ia:5--"Das blondhaarige Mädchen" (solo piano movement in A).

FWC Ia:6--"Das schwarzhaarige Mädchen" (solo piano movement in C).

FWC Ia:7--"Das braunhaarige Mädchen" (solo piano movement in F).

FWC Ia:8--"Der Höfling" (solo piano movement in D).

FWC Ia:9--Fantasy in D for piano solo.

FWC Ia:10--Rondo in d minor for piano solo.

FWC Ia:11--Theme and (7) Variations in C for piano solo on the chorus "Provi l'Ibero infido" (from La Clemenza di Scipione by Johann Christian Bach).

FWC Ia:12--Andante in B flat for piano solo

FWC Ia:13--Polonaise in G for piano solo.

FWC Ia:14--Gigue in g minor (see FWC IX:1/3).

FWC Ia:15--Adagio in A for piano solo.

FWC Ia:16--Rondo in D for piano solo.

FWC Ia:17--Ballet Music ["Ganymede and Phoebe"], extant in piano transcription.
[Orchestrated version by C.B. Rockford, 2020.]

FWC Ia:18--Ballet Music, "The King's Choice," extant in piano transcription.
[Orchestrated version by C.B. Rockford, 2021.]

FWC Ia:19--Ballet Music, "The Adventures of Don Antonio" extant in piano transcription.

FWC Ia:20--6 Variations in E flat for piano solo, on a theme based on "Non vi turbate, no" from Gluck's Alceste as arranged by W.A. Mozart (= Andantino, K. 236).

FWC Ib:1--Sonata for 2 pianos in G.

FWC Ib:2--Sonata for piano solo in B flat.

FWC Ib:3--Sonata for piano solo in G.

FWC Ib:4--Sonata for piano solo in D.

FWC Ib:5--Sonata for piano solo in E flat ("Der Paukenschlaeger").

FWC Ib:6--Sonatina for piano solo in g minor.

FWC Ib:7--Sonatina for piano solo in G.

FWC Ib:8--Sonata for piano solo in A ("Weihnachtssonate").

FWC Ib:9--Sonata for piano solo in a minor.

FWC II

FWC IIa:1--Adagio for Flute & Piano in F ("Pennutos Klagelied").

FWC IIa:2--Trio for flute (or violin), cello, and piano in D

FWC IIa:4--Trio for flute (or violin), cello, and piano in B flat (one movement).

FWC IIc:1--Divertimento "a 6" in F.

FWC IIc:2--Menuetto for Wind Trio in d. (Used in part in FWC Ia:19.)

FWC III

FWC III:2--Symphony in F.

FWC III:3 [formerly IX:3/1]--Symphony in D; includes FWC VI:1 as 2nd mvmt., with solo part taken by oboe.{1}

FWC IV

FWC IV:1--March in D (with FWC IV:3=Cassation in D).

FWC IV:2--Adagio for Glass Harmonica & Strings in C.

FWC IV:3--Serenade in D (with FWC IV:1=Cassation in D).

FWC IV:4--Drei großangelegt Menuetten (Three Orchestral Minuets):

Minuet no. 1 in C, "Schlachtmenuett"

Minuet no. 2 in D, "Die Pferde von Wien"

Minuet no. 3 in E flat, "Tritons Muschel"

FWC IV:5--Drei Kontretänze (Three Contradanses):

Contradanse no. 1 in G, "Die fünf Bären"{2}

Contradanse no. 2 in D, "Der Sturm"

Contradanse no. 3 in B flat, "Der Greif und der Wasserspeier"

FWC IV:6--Zwei Deutsche Tänze (Two German Dances)

German Dance no. 1 in F, "Der Galopp"

German Dance no. 2 in C, "Die Italienerin"

FWC IV:7--Zwei Märsche (Two Marches)

March no. 1 in E flat

March no. 2 in G

FWC IV:8--Overture to Molière's L'avare (The Miser).

FWC IV:9--Sechs neue Menuette. (Keys: D, E flat, G, C, A minor, D.)

FWC IV:10--March in G [prefatory march to FWC IV:11]

FWC IV:11--Serenade in G [with FWC IV:10 as intro]

FWC V

FWC V:1--Sonata [Concertino] for Organ & Strings in d.

FWC V:2--Concerto for Piano & Orchestra in E flat.

FWC V:3--Concerto for Harpsichord & Strings in D.

FWC V:4--Concerto for Flute & Orchestra in a.

FWC V:5--Concerto for Piano & Orchestra in C (third movement incomplete: ending lost? not finished?).

FWC V:6--Sinfonia Concertante for Piano, Violin, Oboe, and Orchestra in B flat.

FWC VI

FWC VI:1--"Cara, deh, torna in pace" (librettist unknown), soprano aria in G.{3}

FWC VI:2--"Herz, mein Herz, was soll das geben?" (Goethe), song for voice and piano in a.

FWC VII

FWC VII:1--Overture to lost opera I sperati cavalieri.

FWC VII:2--Ferramondo, o sia il burbero, opera buffa in due atti (libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, with various alterations).

FWC VIII

FWC VIII:2--Chorus: "Iustorum autem animae" (words from Wisdom 3:1, Latin Vulgate).

FWC IX

FWC IX:1/1--Fugue in c minor.{4}

FWC IX:1/2--Andante in E for piano.

FWC IX:1/3--Suite for solo keyboard in g minor, in five movements: Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Air, and Gigue. (Gigue="FWC Ia:14."){5}

FWC IX:3/1--(see FWC III:3).

FWC IXa

FWC IXa:A1--Transcription and completion of Rondo for piano in F by W.A. Mozart, K. Anh. 37/K. 590c. (Mozart's fragment: 33 measures; as completed by Pennuto: 149 measures.)

FWC IXa:A2--Completion of Minuet in D by W.A. Mozart, K. 461 no. 6. (Mozart's fragment: 8 measures [original continuation lost]; as completed by Pennuto: 32 measures.)

FWC IXa:A3--6 Paired Dances by Ignatius Sancho (1729-1780) and Pennuto.

{1} Authenticity of FWC III:3's present form doubtful; now believed to be a publisher's compilation of originally-independent Pennuto movements. See Mitsuko Domo, "On the D Major 'Sinfonia' Attributed to Pennuto," Transactions of the Tokyo Pennuto Foundation (1975), 146-167.

{2} On the early 20th century mistranscription of this piece's nickname that led to the erroneous designation "Die fünf Buchstaben," see Larry Da Ponte, Lost in the Mists of Time: The Gradual Neglect and Sudden Recovery of J.G. Pennuto (London: Heartel and Hohum, forthcoming), ch. 15. In summary, the mistaken guess of a library cataloguer dealing with a damaged and nearly illegible manuscript led to the name by which all previous Pennuto scholars have referred to this contradanse. Prof. Da Ponte's study establishes with reasonable certainty that the "fünf Bären" of the restored title were owned by Baron von Langsam-Zurück, an eccentric nobleman who lived on the outskirts of Vienna.

{3} FWC VI:1's music is also found (in an arranged form of doubtful authenticity) in FWC III:3, 2nd movement.

{4} The authenticity of FWC IX:1/1 has not yet been fully established and continues to be hotly debated by Pennuto scholars. The scholarly literature includes:

Albrecht Eisenstein, "A Newly-Discovered but Dubious Fugue," in New Pennuto Discoveries (London: Heartel and Hohum, 1939), 276-8.
Charlton "Bubbles" Rockford, "Establishing the Authenticity of Pennuto’s C Minor Fugue," Pennuto Studies X (1998), 73-81.
Paul Proudparrot, "Second Thoughts on the Authenticity of FWC IX:1/1," Journal of the American Pennuto Society, October 1998.
C.B. Rockford, "Second Thoughts on the Musical Scholarship of Paul 'Lamebrain' Proudparrot," Ch. 4 of Festschrift für Aloysius Dittlemeister (1999).
P. Proudparrot, "Dense as a London Fog: The Thinking of C. Bubbles Rockford," Journal of the American Pennuto Society, August 1999.
C.B. Rockford, "Smile When You Say That, Yellowbelly," Letters Section, Journal of the American Pennuto Society, September 1999.
Mitsuko Domo, "Gentlemen, Please, Let’s Be Reasonable," Letters Section, Journal of the American Pennuto Society, October 1999.
C.B. Rockford, "Stay Outta This, Lamb Chop," Letters Section, Journal of the American Pennuto Society, November 1999.
P. Proudparrot, "No Way to Talk to a Lady: Male Chauvinist C.B. Rockford Mistreats Mitsuko Domo," Guest Editorial, Journal of the American Pennuto Society, January 2000.

A raucous altercation between Rockford and Proudparrot at the Tokyo Pennuto Foundation's annual conference in March 2000 resulted in a broken nose (Rockford) and two swallowed teeth (Proudparrot), but, regrettably, no final settlement on whether or not the fugue is genuine.

{5} The most recent research suggests that the suite may be a composite work, done by Pennuto at the behest of a noble patron, who apparently commissioned the composer to transcribe/reconstruct a Baroque-era keyboard suite from a manuscript containing several gaps and mutilations. Balance of probability suggests the concluding Gigue, whose highest note is the F two and a half octaves above middle C, is entirely or substantially Pennuto's own (since the customary upper limit for the harpsichord would be the E a half step below that). On this question, see Mitsuko Domo, "A Thing of Shreds and Patches: The Pennuto 'Suite' in g, FWC IX:1/3," Pennuto Studies XVIII (2005), 213-232. Due to Domo's findings, the "Gigue" of the Suite is being renumbered as FWC Ia:14 in an upcoming edition of the Pennuto catalog, although at this time there is not enough firm evidence (internal or otherwise) to move the remainder of the work from the FWC IX "Doubtful and spurious" category, or even to provide it a definitive FWC IXa classification (denoting an arrangement of another composer's work).

The above catalog is based on the Functional Works Catalog of the Music of J.G. Pennuto prepared by the National Pennuto Research Center, Mandrake, Ohio; and by the Tokyo Pennuto Foundation, Tokyo, Japan.

(Last updated 22 Jun 2024)