Carlferdinand Zech (14 December 1928 – 16 September 1999) was a German musicologist, composer and choir conductor.

Early life

Born in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

, Zech attended

Franckesche Stiftungen The Francke Foundations (Franckesche Stiftungen), also known as Glauchasche Anstalten were founded in 1695 in Halle, Germany as a Christian, social and educational work by August Hermann Francke The Francke Foundations are today a non-profit e ...

in Halle an der Saale. From 1939 to 1943, he was a member of the . Afterwards, he attended secondary school in Schönebeck (Elbe) in 1948, where

Hans Naumilkat Hans Christoph Karl Friedrich Naumilkat (9 December 1919 – 13 February 1994) was a German composer and music educator. Life Born in Schönebeck, Naumilkat passed his Abitur in 1938 and subsequently studied music and music education in Braun ...

was his teacher. During this time, he conducted the Volkschor and the school choir of Schönebeck. Zech also composed his first works of music for the stage. From 1950 to 1955, he studied at the , studying under Werner Gößling (conducting),

Fritz Reuter Fritz Reuter (7 November 1810 – 12 July 1874; born as ''Heinrich Ludwig Christian Friedrich Reuter'') was a novelist from Northern Germany who was a prominent contributor to Low German literature. Early life Fritz Reuter was born at Stavenha ...

(music theory and composition) and

Walther Siegmund-Schultze Walther Siegmund-Schultze (6 July 1916 – 6 March 1993) was a German musicologist. He was the elder brother of musicologist Hella Brock. Biography Siegmund-Schultze was born in Schweinitz (Elster). In July 1940 he was promoted to Dr. phil ...

(music history). He completed his studies as

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

. He also passed the Staatsexamen in conducting and

music theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

Career

From 1955 to 1959, Zech was an assistant at the Institute for Musicology of the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg. He then directed the Stadtsingechor zu Halle until 1968, which he rebuilt. He installed choir classes and affiliated the choir with Latina August Hermann Francke. From 1951 to 1976, he served as choir director of the "Johann Friedrich Reichardt". From 1968, he taught music theory and music history at the University of Halle-Wittenberg. In 1972, he was awarded the

Dr. phil. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

with this dissertation ''Die Solokonzerte von

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

. Untersuchungen über Aufbau der Werke und ihre ästhetische Wertung''. In 1982 he completed a second disseration: ''Die kompositorischen Gestaltungsmittel unseres Jahrhunderts als Gegenstand der Musiktheorie''. Zech published several contributions to music theory and emerged as a composer. Zech died in

Halle (Saale) Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (; from the 15th to the 17th century: ''Hall in Sachsen''; until the beginning of the 20th century: ''Halle an der Saale'' ; from 1965 to 1995: ''Halle/Saale'') is the largest city of the Germany, German States of ...

at the age of 78. Since 2013, his estate has been managed by the .

Compositions

Instrumental music

* ''Kleine Suite für Kammerorchester'', 1957 * ''2 Sonatinen für Klavier'', 1958 * ''Holzbläser-Quartett'', 1959 * ''Kleine Suite'', 1959 * ''Vier kleine Stücke für Klavier'', 1960 * ''Festliche Musik für Kammerorchester'', 1961 * ''Preludio'', 1963 * ''Leuna II'', 1963 * ''Nonett für Bläser und Schlagwerk'', 1966 * ''Kleine Sinfonie für Jugendorchester'', 1968 * ''Divertimento für Streichorchester'', 1970 * ''Concertante Musik für Kammerorchester'', 1971 * ''Streichquartett'', 1977

Vocal music

* ''Kantate vom neuen Menschen'', 1960 * ''Festkantate'', 1961 * ''Unser Jahr beginnt im Mai'', 1965 * ''Memlebener Kantate'', 1976

Publications

* with

Kurt Johnen Kurt Johnen (3 January 1884 – 26 February 1965) was a German pianist, music educator and musicologist. Life Born in Burtscheid, Johnen attended the Gymnasium in Aachen and studied musicology at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and piano wi ...

: ''Allgemeine Musiklehre''. 15th completely reworked edition, Reclam, Leipzig 1984. * ''Tonsatzstudien. Funktionsharmonik, Liedbegleitung, Kontrapunkt''. Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1988. * ''Die kompositorischen Gestaltungsmittel unseres Jahrhunderts als Gegenstand der Musiktheorie''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zech, Carlferdinand German choral conductors 20th-century German composers 20th-century classical composers Academic staff of the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg 1928 births 1999 deaths People from Potsdam 20th-century German musicologists