Carl Gotthelf Gerlach (31 December 1704 – 9 July 1761) was a German

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

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 def ...

and

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Life

Born in , Wermsdorf, hear Oschatz, Gerlach became a pupil at the Thomasschule in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, receiving musical training between 1716 and 1723, as an alto singer, violinist and keyboard player, from the

Thomaskantor (Cantor at St. Thomas) is the common name for the musical director of the , now an internationally known boys' choir founded in Leipzig in 1212. The official historic title of the Thomaskantor in Latin, ', describes the two functions of Cantor ( ...

Johann Kuhnau. When

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

succeeded Kuhnau in 1723, it is likely that he taught Gerlach. After leaving school, Gerlach assisted with musical duties in the two principal churches in Leipzig, the Nikolaikirche and the Thomaskirche, including acting as a copyist; he occasionally escorted Bach during his travels around Germany. In 1727 he enrolled as a law student at

Leipzig University Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

. In 1729, on Bach's recommendation, he was appointed as musical director of the Neukirche, Leipzig, a post he occupied until his death. He temporarily took over from Bach as director of the Leipzig Collegium Musicum between spring 1737 and autumn 1739, becoming permanent director some time between 1741 and 1744. As a violinist, he became leader of the ''Grosse Konzert'' in 1743, financed by the Leipzig merchant class: it was a precursor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus. In 1729, as Gerlach became more significant in musical circles, he received disproportionately more funding than Bach from the Leipzig city council; they preferred the progressive approach of the Neukirche to the traditional approach of the two main churches. Gerlach died in Leipzig after a long period of poor health, unmarried and heirless; his musical estate was purchased by the Breitkopf family, who later catalogued the large collection of manuscripts.

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Carl Gotthelf Gerlach
bach-cantatas.com 1704 births 1761 deaths German classical organists Musicians from Leipzig 18th-century German keyboardists German male classical organists Leipzig University alumni {{germany-classical-musician-stub