Ernst Ludwig Gerber (29 September 1746 in

Sondershausen Sondershausen is a town in Thuringia, central Germany, capital of the Kyffhäuserkreis district, situated about 50 km north of Erfurt. On 1 December 2007, the former municipality Schernberg was incorporated by Sondershausen. Until 1918 it ...

, Germany – 30 June 1819 in Sondershausen) was a German

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, organist,

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

, and author of a famous dictionary of musicians. His father, Heinrich Nikolaus Gerber (1702–1775), a pupil of J. S. Bach, was an organist and composer of some distinction, and under his direction Ernst Ludwig at an early age had made great progress in his musical studies. In 1765 he went to Leipzig to study law, but the claims of music, which had gained additional strength from his acquaintanceship with Johann Adam Hiller (of whom Gerber became the cellist of his orchestra ''Großes Concert Concert''), soon came to occupy almost his sole attention. On his return to Sondershausen he was appointed music teacher to the children of the prince, and in 1775 he succeeded his father as court organist. Afterwards he devoted much of his time to the study of the literature and history of music, and with this view he made himself master of several modern languages. His ''Historisch-biographisches Lexikon der Tonkünstler'' appeared in 1790 and 1792 in two volumes; and the first volume of what was virtually an improved and corrected edition of this work was published in 1810 under the title ''Neues Historisch-biographisches Lexikon der Tonkünstler'', followed by three further volumes in 1812, 1813 and 1814. Gerber also contributed a number of papers to musical periodicals, and published several minor musical compositions. Gerber, as it has been cited, owned a manuscript from a member of Bach family, which contained the settings of more than 200 chorale melodies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerber, Ernst Ludwig 1746 births 1819 deaths People from Sondershausen German composers