Joachim August Christian Zarnack (September 21, 1777 - June 11, 1827) was a German preacher, teacher, and collector of

German folk music Alpine folk music (german: Alpenländische Volksmusik; German's ''Volksmusik'' means "people's music" or as a Germanic connotative translation, "folk's music") is the common umbrella designation of a number of related styles of traditional folk m ...

. He found, arranged, and published a number of collections of such music from his travels and research.

Biography

Zarnack was born in Mehmke, Saxony to a preacher. In 1795, he left home to receive theological training at a seminary in Halle, Saxony at the

University of Halle Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

, and became a preacher himself.Zarnack, Joachim August Christian
from The Neue Deutsche Biographie. In 1805, Zarnack moved to

Beeskow Beeskow ( dsb, Bezkow) is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, and capital of the Oder-Spree district. It is situated on the river Spree, 30 km southwest of Frankfurt an der Oder. Demography File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Beeskow.pdf, Developme ...

to be the town church's second preacher, and also became teacher at a girls' school. In 1815, after the end of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

and after a major expansion of Brandenburg-Prussia, Zarnack was appointed director of education at the Royal Military Orphanage in Potsdam, originally intended for the children of slain soldiers. In 1822, Zarnack was involved in a scandal after accusations by an orphan girl under his care, and was temporarily suspended. He died in Potsdam in 1827. Zarnack was best known after his death for his work in music and compilation of folk music. He put lyrics to a version of ''

O Tannenbaum "" (; "O fir tree", English: O Christmas Tree) is a German Christmas song. Based on a traditional folk song which was unrelated to Christmas, it became associated with the traditional Christmas tree. History The modern lyrics were written in 1824 ...

'' that was more a love song ('' Liebeslieder''). Zarnack's version was published in 1819–1820.

Ernst Anschütz Ernst Gebhard Salomon Anschütz (28 October 1780 in Goldlauter near Suhl, Electorate of Saxony – 18 December 1861 (other sources: 11 December 1861

would write the most famous and prominent version of ''O Tannenbaum'' in 1824 that is still sung today. Anschütz's version was a

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French ori ...

rather than a love song, however. Anschütz kept Zarnack's first verse, and thus Zarnack is usually partially credited for the inspiration of the carol.

Works

Books

* ''Deutsche Volkslieder'' Band I, Berlin 1818
Full text
; Band II, Berlin 1820
Full text
* ''Weisenbuch zu den Volksliedern für Volksschulen'', 2 Bände 1819/20 () * ''Deutsche Sprichwörter zu Verstandesübungen für die Schulen bearbeitet''. Maurer, Berlin 1820
Full text
from

University of Düsseldorf A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

) * ''Aehrenkranz deutscher Volksmährchen''. Mittler, Berlin/Posen/Bromberg 1828 ()

Songs

* " Ich hab die Nacht geträumet" * "

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zarnack, August 1777 births 1820 deaths German folk-song collectors German Lutherans 19th-century German educators