Carl Friedrich Zelter (11 December 1758 15 May 1832)Grove/Fuller-Datei:Carl-Friedrich-Zelter.jpegMaitland, 1910. The Zelter entry takes up parts of pages 593-595 of Volume V. was a German composer, conductor and teacher of music. Working in his father's

bricklaying Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called '' courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by si ...

business, Zelter attained mastership in that profession, and was a musical

autodidact Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individua ...

. Zelter was born and died in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. He became friendly with

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

, and his works include settings of Goethe's poems. During his career, he composed about two hundred

lieder In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French sp ...

, as well as

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

s, a

viola concerto A viola concerto is a concerto contrasting a viola with another body of musical instruments such as an orchestra or chamber music ensemble. Early examples of viola concertos include Telemann's concerto in G major and several concertos by Carl St ...

(performed as early as 1779) and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

music. Amongst Zelter's pupils (at different times) were

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...

Fanny Mendelssohn Fanny Mendelssohn (14 November 1805 – 14 May 1847) was a German composer and pianist of the early Romantic era who was also known as Fanny (Cäcilie) Mendelssohn Bartholdy and, after her marriage, Fanny Hensel (as well as Fanny Mendelssohn He ...

Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Mozart and Wagner". With his 1831 opera ''Robert le di ...

Eduard Grell Eduard Grell or August Eduard Grell (6 November 1800 – 10 August 1886) was a German composer, organist, and music teacher. Grell was born in Berlin. Among his early teachers were Carl Friedrich Zelter and Carl Friedrich Rungenhagen. On Zelt ...

Otto Nicolai Carl Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai (9 June 1810 – 11 May 1849) was a German composer, conductor, and one of the founders of the Vienna Philharmonic. Nicolai is best known for his operatic version of Shakespeare's comedy ''The Merry Wives of Wi ...

, Johann Friedrich Naue, and

Heinrich Dorn Heinrich Ludwig Egmont Dorn (14 November 1800 or 1804-10 January 1892) was a German conductor, composer, teacher, and journalist. He was born in Königsberg, where he studied piano, singing, and composition. Later, he studied in Berlin with Ludw ...

. Felix Mendelssohn was perhaps Zelter's favorite pupil and Zelter wrote to Goethe boasting of the 12-year old's abilities. Zelter communicated his strong love of the music of

J. S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

to Mendelssohn, one consequence of which was Mendelssohn's 1829 revival of Bach's

St Matthew Passion The ''St Matthew Passion'' (german: Matthäus-Passion, links=-no), BWV 244, is a '' Passion'', a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets ...

at the Sing-Akademie under Zelter's auspices. This epochal event sparked a general re-evaluation and revival of Bach's works, which were then largely forgotten and regarded as old-fashioned and beyond resuscitation. Mendelssohn had hoped to succeed Zelter on the latter's death as leader of the Singakademie, but the post went instead to

Carl Friedrich Rungenhagen Carl Friedrich Rungenhagen (first name also sometimes given as Karl;Eitner (1889) 27 September 1778 – 21 December 1851) was a German composer and music teacher. Life Rungenhagen abandoned early study of art under Daniel Chodowiecki and jo ...

Zelter was married to Julie Pappritz in 1796, one year after his first wife, Sophie Eleonora Flöricke, née Kappel, had died. Pappritz was a well-known singer at the Berlin Opera. Zelter is buried at the

Sophienkirche The Sophienkirche (Saint Sophia's Church) was a church in Dresden. It was located on the northeast corner of the Postplatz (post office square) in the old town before it was severely damaged in the Dresden bombing in 1945 and subsequently destr ...

in Berlin. The violinist

Daniel Hope Daniel Hope (born 17 August 1973, Durban, South Africa) is a European classical violinist. Early life and education Hope was born in Durban, South Africa, and is of Irish and Jewish German descent, his maternal grandparents, formerly from Be ...

(born 1973) is a direct descendant of Zelte

Zelter was the author of a biography of

Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch (1736–1800) was a German composer and harpsichordist. Born in Zerbst, he was the son of the composer Johann Friedrich Fasch. He was initially taught by his father. In 1756 he began service at the court of Frederic ...

, first published in 1801 by J.F. Unger in Berlin. The novelist

Elizabeth Sara Sheppard Elizabeth Sara Sheppard (1830–1862) was a 19th-century British novelist. Life Sheppard was born in 1830 in Blackheath, London. Her father, of Jewish descent on his mother's side, was a clergyman of the Church of England. He died soon after Sh ...

portrayed Zalter as the character Aronach in her 1853 novel ''Charles Auchester''.M.C. Rintoul:
Dictionary of Real People and Places in Fiction
' (2014)

Notes

External links

References

*Garratt, James (2002). . Cambridge University Press. . *Greene, David Mason (1985). . Reproducing Piano Roll Foundation. . *Grove, George; Fuller-Maitland, John Alexander, ed. . MacMillan Company. Edition of 1910. Volume V. *Tillard, Françoise; Naish, Camille (translator) (1996). . Hal Leonard. . * 1758 births 1832 deaths German male composers German composers Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Musicians from Berlin People from the Margraviate of Brandenburg Pupils of Johann Kirnberger {{Germany-composer-stub