How many composers of his time did Zelenka actually meet?

A. Perhaps it is more relevant to ask which composers he didn't meet! Between 1716 and 1719, he studied under Fux (1650-1741) in Vienna and had Quantz (1697-1773) as his student. Zelenka would also have met Antonio Caldara (1670-1736) in Vienna. He worked alongside Heinichen (1683-1729) in Dresden, (the Kapellmeister whom Zelenka stood in for when his health was failing). Zelenka was friendly with J.G. Pisendel (1687-1755), who was a highly esteemed violinist in the same orchestra. It is not clear whether Zelenka ever visited Italy, but his close colleague Pisendel certainly studied under Vivaldi (1675-1741). Zelenka returned from Vienna in February 1719, and was presumably in Dresden to meet Hndel (1685-1759) and Telemann (1681-1767) in the same year, when there was a month-long festival to celebrate the marriage of August, successor to the throne, to the Hapsburg emperor's daughter Maria Josepha (see legend to photograph below). The Venetian A. Lotti (1667-1740), having spent 2 ...  more