Peter Haensel (1770-1831) was a German violinist and composer. He was born in Warsaw and taught the violin by an uncle. In 1787 he played in Prince Potemkin's orchestra at St. Petersburg and in 1791 became Princess Lubomirsky's concert master in Vienna. Beginning in 1792 he studied with Haydn for some years and started to publish music in 1798. His works include many chamber music pieces ' fifty five string quartets, four string quintets, six string trios and many other string and keyboard pieces ' all in a conservative musical style which perhaps contributed to the fact that he was widely played.