Johann Petzmayer

Johann Petzmayer (18 March 1803 – 29 December 1884)[1] was an Austrian zither player, influential in making the instrument well-known.

Petzmayer was born in Zistersdorf, Lower Austria in 1803; his father moved to Vienna, where in Neulerchenfeld [de] he ran an inn.

[2][3][4] His father's inn was near the Linienwall, an outer line of fortifications around the city, and so was visited by travellers.

In the audience was Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria, then aged 29; he decided to learn to play the zither, appointing Petzmayer chamber virtuoso, and became his student.

[5] A critic described a concert given by Petzmayer in Cannstatt in 1844: "The actual basic colour of Petzmayer's playing is an idyllic mood, blended with an elegiac melancholy; he elicits from his homely instrument sounds whose sweetness, cordiality and soul penetrate all to the heart...."[4] He invented the Streichzither [de], which is played with a bow.