Gerd Zacher (6 July 1929 – 9 June 2014) was a German composer,
organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational h ...
, and writer on music. He specialized in
contemporary compositions, many of which feature
extended technique
In music, extended technique is unconventional, unorthodox, or non-traditional methods of singing or of playing musical instruments employed to obtain unusual sounds or timbres.Burtner, Matthew (2005).Making Noise: Extended Techniques after Exper ...
s, and are written in
graphic
Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture, ...
or verbal scores. He interpreted the scores of numerous contemporary composers, including
John Cage,
Juan Allende-Blin
Juan Allende-Blin (born 24 February 1928) is a Chilean composer and academic teacher who lives in Germany.
Career
Born in Santiago de Chile, Allende-Blin studied first with his uncle, Pedro Humberto Allende, and with , a pupil of Anton Webern. ...
,
Mauricio Kagel
Mauricio Raúl Kagel (; 24 December 1931 – 18 September 2008) was an Argentine-German composer.
Biography
Kagel was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, into an Ashkenazi Jewish family that had fled from Russia in the 1920s . He studied music, his ...
,
György Ligeti
György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century ...
,
Hans Otte Hans Günther Franz Otte (3 December 1926, Plauen – 25 December 2007, Bremen) was a German composer, pianist, radio promoter, and author of many pieces of musical theatre, sound installations, poems, drawings, and art videos. From 1959 to 198 ...
,
Luis de Pablo
Luis de Pablo Costales (28 January 1930 – 10 October 2021) was a Spanish composer belonging to the generation that Cristóbal Halffter named ''the Generación del 51''. Mostly self-taught as a composer and influenced by Maurice Ohana and Max ...
, and
Isang Yun
Isang Yun, also spelled Yun I-sang (17 September 1917 – 3 November 1995), was a Korean-born composer who made his later career in West Germany.
Early life and education
Yun was born in Sancheong (Sansei), Korea under Japanese rule, Chōsen ...
. He is also known as an interpreter of the works of
Johann Sebastian 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 ...
.
Zacher was born in
Meppen
Meppen (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Möppen'') is a town in and the seat of the Emsland district of Lower Saxony, Germany, at the confluence of the Ems, Hase, and Nordradde rivers and the Dortmund–Ems Canal (DEK). The name stems from the word ''M ...
and lived in
Essen, Germany.
Writings
On music
* ''Analyse der Orgel – ein Interpretationskurs''. In: ''Internationale Ferienkurse für neue Musik''. 26. 1972. – Mainz
.a.: Schott, 1973. (Darmstädter Beiträge zur neuen Musik ; 13)
* ''Bach gegen seine Interpreten verteidigt '': Aufsätze 1987–1992. München : Edition Text u. Kritik, 1993. – 170 pages – (Musik-Konzepte ; 79/80)
* ''Beobachtungen an Erik Saties «Messe des pauvres»''. In: ''Erik Satie''. – 2., erw. Aufl. – München : Edition Text u. Kritik, 1988. – pp. 48–63. – (Musik-Konzepte ; 11)
* ''Canonische Veränderungen, BWV 769 und 769 a''. In: ''Bach Johann Sebastian – Das spekulative Spätwerk''. – 2., unveränd. Aufl. – München : Edition Text u. Kritik, 1999. – pp. 3–19. – (Musik-Konzepte ; 17/18)
* ''Der geheime Text des Contrapunctus IV von Bach (Anregungen der Sprache für die Ausprägung von Musik)''. In: Stefan Klöckner (Hrsg.): Godehard Joppich zum 60. Geburtstag, Bosse, Regensburg 1992, pp. 219–237
* ''Die Erfahrung der Abwesenheit Gottes in der Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts''. In: Wolfhart Pannenberg (Hrsg.): ''Die Erfahrung der Abwesenheit Gottes in der modernen Kultur'', Vandenhoek & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1984, pp. 137–159
* ''Die Kunst einer Fuge''. Als Begleitheft zur
Wergo
WERGO is a German record label focusing on contemporary classical music. It was founded in 1962 by German art historian and music publisher (1903–1975) and the musicologist Helmut Kirchmeyer. Their first release, filed under "WER 60001", was ...
-CD 6184-2, 1990
* ''Die riskanten Beziehungen zwischen Sonate und Kirchenlied : Mendelssohns Orgelsonaten op. 65 Nr. 1 und 6'' .In: ''Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy''. – München : Edition Text u. Kritik, 1980. – pp. 34–45. – (Musik-Konzepte; 14/15)
* ''Eine Fuge ist eine Fuge ist eine Fuge (
Liszts B-A-C-H-Komposition für Orgel)''. In: ''Musik und Kirche'' 47, 1977, H. 1, pp. 15–23
* ''Erfahrungen bei der Interpretation graphisch notierter Orgelmusik''. In: ''Rundbrief des Landeskirchenmusikdirektors der Evang. Luth. Landeskirche Schleswig-Holstein, December 1966, pp. 8f.
* ''Frescobaldi und die instrumentale Redekunst''. In: ''Musik und Kirche'' 45, 1975, H. 2, pp. 54–64
* "«Ich kenne des Menschen nicht» : ein musikwissenschaftliches Dilemma (Zu Bachs ''Kunst der Fuge'', Contrapunctus XI)". In. ''Musik und Kirche''. vol. 56. 1986. 6. pp. 298–299
* ''Komponierte Formanten'' .In: ''Aimez-vous Brahms 'the Progressive'?''. – München : Edition Text u. Kritik, 1989. – pp. 69–75. – (Musik-Konzepte ; 65)
* ''
Livre d'orgue – eine Zumutung.'' In: ''Olivier Messiaen''. – München : Edition Text u. Kritik, 1982. – pp. 92–107. – (Musik-Konzepte ; 28)
* ''Materialsammlung zu
Dieter Schnebels Choralvorspielen''. In: ''Dieter Schnebel''. – München : Edition Text u. Kritik, 1980. – pp. 12–22. – (Musik-Konzepte , 16)
* ''Max Reger. Zum Orgelwerk''. In: ''Musik-Konzepte'' Nr. 115, 2002
* ''Meine Erfahrungen mit der «Improvisation ajoutée»''. In: ''Kagel'', 1991. Hrsg. von Werner Klüppelholz. – Köln : DuMont, 1991. – pp. 136–154
* ''Orgelmusik vor 20, 30 Jahren, als unsere Gegenwart noch Zukunft war''. In: ''Acta Organologica'', Bd. 17, Berlin 1984, pp. 406–415
* ''Randbemerkungen über das Zählen in Schönbergs «Ein Überlebender aus Warschau»''.In: ''Arnold Schönberg''. – München : Edition Text u. Kritik, 1980. – pp. 146–150. – (Musik-Konzepte ; Sonderband)
* ''Schöpferische Tradition statt Historismus''. In: ''Acta Organologica'', Bd. 17, Berlin 1984, pp. 184–207
* ''Über eine vergessene Tradition des Legatospiels''. In: ''Musik und Kirche'' 43,, 1973, H. 4, pp. 166–171
* ''Werkzeug Orgel''. In: ''Der Kirchenmusiker'' 19, 1968, H. 5, pp. 1–4
* ''Zu Anton Weberns Bachverständnis''. In: ''Anton Webern I''. – München : Edition Text u. Kritik, 1983. – pp. 290–305. – (Musik-Konzepte ; Sonderband)
Translations from the Spanish language
* Pablo de Rokha: ''Der große Kummer'' (Übersetzung: Gerd Zacher u. Juan Allende-Blin). In: ''Alternative Zeitschrift für Dichtung und Diskussion'', 1961, H. 21, S.133 – 135
*
Pablo Neruda: ''Es gibt keine Vergessenheit (Sonate)'',
Vicente Huidobro
Vicente García-Huidobro Fernández (; January 10, 1893 – January 2, 1948) was a Chilean poet born to an aristocratic family. He promoted the avant-garde literary movement in Chile and was the creator and greatest exponent of the literary m ...
: ''Allein'', Óscar Castro: ''Engel und Papierdrachen'' Übersetzung: Gerd Zacher u. Juan Allende-Blin). In Gotthard Speer/Hansjürgen Winterhoff (Hrsg.): ''Meilensteine eines Komponistenlebens. Kleine Festschrift zum 70. Geburtstag von
Günter Bialas
Günter Bialas (19 July 1907 – 8 July 1995) was a German composer.
Life
Bialas was born in Bielschowitz (today Bielszowice, a subdivision of Ruda Śląska) in Prussian Silesia. His father was the business manager of a German theatre, and hi ...
''. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1977, pp. 16f.
Compositions
* 1954:'' Fünf Transformationen'' für Klavier, op. 3
* 1960: ''Magnificat'' für zweistimmigen Chor, Bläser (oder Orgel) und Pauken, Edition Häusler, Stuttgart
* 1961: ''Differencias'' für Orgel, Ed. Peters, Leipzig
* 1968: ''Szmaty'' (Palm 22,19) für Orgel. Isang Yun gewidmet (unveröffentlicht)
* 1968: ''700000 Tage später (eine Lukaspassion)'' für gemischten Chor (12 bis 28 Mitwirkende)(unveröffentlicht).
* 1968/69: ''"Die Kunst einer Fuge" d.i. Bachs Contrapunctus I in 10 Interpretationen'' für Orgel (CD: Wergo, 1996)
* 1987: ''75 event(ualitie)s'' für Orgel und Tonband. Zum 75. Geburtstag von John Cage (unveröffentlicht)
* 1993: ''Trapez'' (in memoriam Hans Henny Jahnn) für Orgel (unveröffentlicht)
* ''L'heure qu'il est'' für zwei Klaviere im Vierteltonabstand (unveröffentlicht)
References
Further reading
* ''Hommage à Gerd Zacher : zum 70. Geburtstag von Gerd Zacher.'' Mit Beiträgen von Juan Allende-Blin, Philipp C. A. Klais, Klaus Linder, Gerd Zacher u.a., Hrsg.: Forum Kreuzeskirche Essen e.V., Essen, 1999. – VII, 180 pages – (2. Orgelwoche der Essener Kreuzeskirche), programme booklet
*
Juan Allende-Blin
Juan Allende-Blin (born 24 February 1928) is a Chilean composer and academic teacher who lives in Germany.
Career
Born in Santiago de Chile, Allende-Blin studied first with his uncle, Pedro Humberto Allende, and with , a pupil of Anton Webern. ...
: "Gerd Zacher – einige Erinnerungen". In: Juan Allende-Blin : ''Ein Leben aus Erinnerung und Utopie'', eds. Stefan Fricke and Werner Klüppelholz. – Saarbrücken : Pfau, c 2002. – pp. 26–31
* Richard Hauser: "Zugänge : Gerd Zachers Festival 'Die Kunst einer Fuge' ". In: ''Johann Sebastian Bach – Das spekulative Spätwerk''. – 2nd unchanged ed. – Munich, Edition Text u. Kritik, 1999. – pp. 114–132. – (Musik-Konzepte ; 17/18)
* Klaus Linder: "Gerd Zacher". In
Hanns-Werner Heister
Hanns-Werner Heister (born 14 June 1946) is a German musicologist.
Life and career
Born in Plochingen, (Baden-Württemberg), Heister studied musicology, German literature and linguistics in Tübingen, Frankfurt a. M. and Berlin, received his do ...
/ Walter-Wolfgang Sparrer (ed.): ''
Komponisten der Gegenwart
The ''Komponisten der Gegenwart'' (KDG) is a music encyclopedia in German language about composers of the 20th and 21st century. It is a looseleaf service with information on currently about 900 composers.
Editors
Hanns-Werner Heister and Walter ...
''. Edition Text + Kritik, München 1992
* Diederich Lüken: "... die menschliche Unkenntnis verringern ... : der Organist Gerd Zacher". In: ''
Neue Zeitschrift für Musik
'Die'' (; en, " heNew Journal of Music") is a music magazine, co-founded in Leipzig by Robert Schumann, his teacher and future father-in law Friedrich Wieck, and his close friend Ludwig Schuncke. Its first issue appeared on 3 April 1834.
His ...
''. vol. 147. 1986. 11. pp. 30–32.
* Michael Stenger: "Essen – Neue Wege durch Aktive Musik". In: ''Neue Musik seit den achtziger Jahren''. vol. 2. – Regensburg : Con Brio Verlag, 1994. – pp. 131–137
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zacher, Gerd
1929 births
2014 deaths
20th-century classical composers
German classical composers
21st-century classical composers
German classical organists
Kirchenmusikdirektor
Deutsche Grammophon artists
German male organists
Contemporary classical music performers
German male classical composers
20th-century German composers
21st-century German composers
20th-century German male musicians
21st-century German male musicians
20th-century organists
21st-century organists
20th-century German non-fiction writers
20th-century German male writers
21st-century German non-fiction writers
21st-century German male writers
German male non-fiction writers
German writers about music
Male classical organists