Daniel Gottlob Türk (10 August 1750 – 26 August 1813) was a German composer, organist, and music professor of the Classical period.

Biography

Born in Claußnitz,

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

, Türk studied organ under his father and later under

Johann Adam Hiller Johann Adam Hiller (25 December 1728 – 16 June 1804) was a German composer, conducting, conductor and writer on music, regarded as the creator of the Singspiel, an early form of German opera. In many of these operas he collaborated with the poet ...

. It was Hiller who recommended Türk for his first professional position at Halle University, in Halle,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. On 18 April 1779 Halle University granted Türk's request to begin lecturing on music theory, making him the University's "Director of Music." This appointment made Türk the second university music director in Germany. While at Halle, Türk published his treatise ''On the Role of the Organist in Worship'' which is still occasionally reprinted. Several of Türk's dances and minuets for the piano are still popular today. He wrote 18 sonatas. His most notable contribution to the classical music canon is the ''Klavierschule,'' a teaching method for the keyboard. He also wrote a cantata, ''Die Hirten bey der Krippe zu Bethlehem'' (The Shepherds at the Cradle in Bethlehem) (1782), and some organ pieces and other choral works still in manuscript. In 1783 he married Johanna Dorothea Rosine Schimmelpfennig, by whom he had two children. He was a member of the Halle Masonic Lodge, "Zu den drei Degen" ("at the sign of the three daggers"), along with his pupil

Carl Loewe Johann Carl Gottfried Loewe (; 30 November 1796 – 20 April 1869), usually called Carl Loewe (sometimes seen as Karl Loewe), was a German composer, tenor singer and conductor. In his lifetime, his songs ("Balladen") were well enough known for ...

. In 1813, he fell ill and died of liver disease.

Teaching

Türk was first taught how to play by his father, and later studied with J.S. Bach pupil

Gottfried August Homilius Gottfried August Homilius (2 February 1714 – 2 June 1785) was a German composer, cantor and organist. He is considered one of the most important church composers of the generation following Bach's, and was the main representative of the '' ...

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. Türk was a gifted teacher in his own right, with students such as Hermann Uber, Karl Traugott Zeuner, Johann Friedrich Nauer and

.Eberl, Kathrin: Daniel Gottlob Türk - an urban musician in the late eighteenth century. Beeskow 2011

Works

Türk's theoretical and didactic works include; * ''Von den wichtigsten Pflichten eines Organisten'' (Leipzig u. Halle 1787, neue Ausgabe von Naue. 1838) * ''Klavierschule oder Anweisung zum Klavierspielen für Lehrer und Lernende mit kritischen Anmerkungen.'' (Leipzig und Halle 1789) * ''Kurze Anweisung zum Generalbaßspielen'' (Leipzig 1791; 5. Aufl. von Naue, 1841) * ''Anleitung zu Temperaturberechnungen'' (Leipzig 1806, 1808 gedruckt)

References

External links

* * * 1750 births 1813 deaths 18th-century German keyboardists 19th-century German male musicians German Classical-period composers German male classical composers German classical organists German music theorists German Freemasons People educated at the Kreuzschule People from Mittelsachsen German male classical organists {{organist-stub