Alfred Hans Zoller (6 October 1928 – 14 October 2006) was a German composer, jazz pianist, church musician and organist. He is known for the 1964 song "

Stern über Bethlehem Stern über Bethlehem (Star above Bethlehem) is a German sacred Christmas carol which Alfred Hans Zoller created in 1964 in the genre Neues Geistliches Lied. Used by star singers around Epiphany, it has become a popular song and is part of many G ...

", which is often used by

star singers Star singers also known as Epiphany singers, or Star boys' singing procession (England), are children and young people walking from house to house with a star on a rod and often wearing crowns and dressed in clothes to resemble the Three Magi ( ...

, and appeared in 2004 as a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

, ''

She She most commonly refers to: *She (pronoun), the third person singular, feminine, nominative case pronoun in modern English. She or S.H.E. may also refer to: Literature and films *'' She: A History of Adventure'', an 1887 novel by H. Rider Hagga ...

''.

Life

Born in Neu-Ulm, Zoller was organist from 1956, then in 1960 also cantor in Reutti near Neu-Ulm. There he founded the "St. Margret Singers", a gospel choir, which contributed to the fact that elements of jazz and "black music" found their way into German Protestant church services. He composed numerous songs in the genre

Neues Geistliches Lied ''Neues Geistliches Lied'' (, ''new spiritual song''), abbreviated NGL, is a music genre of songs in German intended for church usage, and based on contemporary lyrics and with music by contemporary composers. History The idea to reach youn ...

Legacy

Zoller's song "

" found its way into some regional parts of the Protestant hymnal '' Evangelisches Gesangbuch'' (EG), for example in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

EG 545, in

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

EG 542, in

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

EG 540. In the Catholic prayer and hymn book '' Gotteslob'' (GL), the song is printed as GL 261. In the it can be found under the number 265. In some communities it is also sung by the

. This makes it one of the most important Christmas hymns of modern times.

Compositions

* "Lass uns spüren", 3rd prize at the 2nd competition of the

Evangelische Akademie Tutzing The ' (Protestant Academy of Tutzing) is an education and conference center in Tutzing, Bavaria, run by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. It was founded in 1947. The main building is Schloss Tutzing on Lake Starnberg. The academy awards ...

1963 * "Schiff in Not", together with the pastor and songwriter

Kurt Rommel Kurt Rommel (20 December 1926 – 5 March 2011) was a German Protestant pastor of the Evangelische Landeskirche in Württemberg, author of spiritual books, and hymnodist. He wrote text and tune of hymns contained in both Protestant and Catholi ...

* "

", 1964, appeared as

under the name ''

'' at

Groove Coverage Groove Coverage is a German dance band which consists of Axel Konrad, DJ Novus, Melanie Munch, better known as Mell (lead singer), and Verena Rehm (former stage performer, backing singer, occasional lead singer). Producers of the band are Ole Wie ...

2004

Bibliography

Frank Raberg: ''Biografisches Lexikon für Ulm und Neu-Ulm 1802–2009''.''Biografisches Lexikon für Ulm und Neu-Ulm 1802–2009''
/ref> Süddeutsche Verlagsgesellschaft Ulm im Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Ostfildern 2010, , ().

References

External links

*
Alfred Hans Zoller
on Carus music
Stern über Bethlehem, Alfred Hans Zoller
2005 on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Zoller, Alfred Hans German classical organists German male organists German male composers People from Neu-Ulm 1928 births 2006 deaths 20th-century organists 20th-century German male musicians Male classical organists