Gerd Zacher

Gerd Zacher ( born July 6, 1929 in Meppen on the Ems ) is a German composer, organist and music writer who developed a novel approach to the organ. He wore an essential contribution to experimental music and the development of graphic and verbal representation of music in place of the conventional notation.

• 2.1 About Music
• 2.2 Translation of Spanish poetry

Life and work

Training

While Gerd Zacher's childhood, the family moved several times. Only in 1940 he received his first music lessons with Fritz Lubrich in Katowice, a student of Max Reger. During the war, after another move, he was taught by Anton Rump in piano and theory. This also included playing polyphonic literature from old keys, which he was very useful for its performance practice later. Also at this time he began playing the organ and took from 1945 first lessons on this instrument. After completing school he studied from 1948 at the Northwest German Music Academy in Detmold composition with Günter Bialas, conducting with Kurt Thomas and organ with Hans Heintze and Michael Schneider. In 1953 he moved to Hamburg, studied piano and theory with Theodor Kaufmann, a pupil of Ferruccio Busoni, and made 1954 the exam for " state-certified music teacher."

Occupation

After that he went to Santiago de Chile and was there from 1954 to 1957 cantor and organist at a German Protestant Church. In 1957 he returned to Germany and put on the Schleswig -Holstein Music Academy and North German organ school in Lübeck, the A-exam in church music from in order to accept a corresponding Office of the Lutheran Church in Hamburg- Wellingsbüttel can. There he remained until 1970, in 1968 the church music director of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Schleswig -Holstein, a post which this country church was occupied since 1925.

Commitment and ostracized for New Music

Worldwide attention was attracted his concert series with world premieres and the care of the displaced by the Nazis music. There were world premieres of his own works and numerous composed for him or it of interest Organ works by contemporary composers such as Juan Allende -Blin, John Cage, Mauricio Kagel, György Ligeti and Dieter Schnebel.

Essential in these years were the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music for him. There he met Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen, which gave him many new ideas. In addition to Manfred Kluge was one of the first to make known Messiaen's organ music in Germany.

Composer Isang Yun 1967 was kidnapped by South Korean intelligence to Seoul, held captive and tortured. Gerd Zacher was among the many that eventually erwirkten his release through a variety of actions from Germany. Zacher wrote on this occasion the organ Szmaty. The Polish word means rags, rags. The motto was the psalm verse: " They parted my garments among them. ".

Since 1969 Gerd Zacher is a member of the Free Academy of the Arts in Hamburg.

1970 Gerd Zacher was appointed as Head of the Department of Protestant church music at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen. He taught there until 1991. Until 1973 he was also organist at Immanuel Church in Wuppertal- Barmen. The evangelical church in Essen- Rellinghausen stood him afterwards for his concert activities available.

Through seminars and publications Gerd Zacher has influenced today's Bach interpretation sustainable. He undertook concert tours at home and abroad and played numerous record a.

Gerd Zacher lives in Essen.

The music writer

Gerd Zacher was very interested in bringing his views and discoveries about music publicly expressed. He therefore wrote a lot: about his own works, (eg: The Art of Fugue ) (. Experiences graphically notated in the interpretation of organ music ) and a new type of musical notation, to which he contributed much with; further on Bach's The Art of Fugue and other works of Bach, very much about organs (eg: Tool organ), because he used them on a whole new way, so that organs were rebuilt it. Also on the organ (eg: via a forgotten tradition of Legato game) and organ music (eg: . Max Reger to organ or: A fugue is a fugue is a fugue (Franz Liszt's BACH organ composition ) or: Frescobaldi and the instrumental rhetoric ) published Zacher. The study of the music of his time also meant dealing with the zeitgeist. (What becomes clear in the following titles: The experience of the absence of God in the 20th century music or: creative tradition rather historicism or Organ Music 20, 30 years ago, when our presence was still future. ) Inspired by his friendship with the composer Juan Allende - Blin and his stay in Chile, he translated with him several works from Spanish into German.

The composer

Gerd Zacher wrote as a child, but could only apply the resulting works from 1951. Most exist as manuscripts and are still unpublished. The counting of his compositions begins with the twelve-tone cantata Prière pour all au Paradis avec les ânes after the poem by Francis Jammes ( 1951).

He became deeply involved with the Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique and serialism. In his view, the serial method are a continuation of the tradition through its variety of relationships and to avoid redundancies. Important were also the suggestions by Messiaen, Boulez and Stockhausen, and later by the American composer John Cage.

His instrument was the organ by different strong wind supply, flexible threshold stylus and by extremely slow pressing down the keys to compositional experimentation. He could thus almost like the "talking tool an unknown language " using the organ. In his cycle The Art of Fugue - Bach Contrapunctus I in ten interpretations of the possibilities of new music are applied to early music: Without changing a tone of the original, Zacher alienated the music through various historical and contemporary playing techniques.

While Zacher explored new possibilities for the organ, he was based in the choral works of the then usual avant-garde techniques. Words are broken down into their individual sounds and different endured long sounding. In the foreground are often graphical notation and verbal instructions. In some compositions, he left open the scope for the individual singers and instrumentalists in which they should improvise according to predefined rules.

700,000 days later

An example of this is his passion to produce according to Luke 700,000 days later for 12 to 28 choristers of 1968. Unnotierbare polyphony, the work for an ensemble of independent voices is composed in free coordination. Gerd Zacher writes: " The score is designed so that each choir has its own folder with its own voting history. These booklets have been developed in part by any individual himself by musical decisions precipitated, collected musical material and occasionally was a composer engaged - according to certain statements of the score. Here, many species have been hit by agreements among themselves. It may happen that you get to hear so many musics at the same time every now and then, such as choir singers are available. The music is ' in the hands of men like', they endured that you write them down, sings, sounds; for only thus they exist with us. It is even a parable for the liberating passion of Christ. But part of the parable in the Bible always the sentence: ' He who has ears, let him hear ears '. The old masters have asked for their ' poor song ' to gracious receiving at the receiver. I would like to continue this tradition for good reason. "(Quote source? )

The work is divided in sequence by the sequence of pages, the page turning is to common orientation. The score consists of a main part, with many white spots, and an appendix. With the material of this Annex, the actual work is filled. They are joined by a variety of texts and actions of everyday and not everyday dealings: the sung newspaper criticism of a musical performance; "Keep right," the description of an event under the theme; a Lenten hymn sung backwards to " closer - closer "; Sets of a newscaster on the radio; a Lenten hymn whistled; Arabic song ..... All this is held together by the text of Luke 's Gospel. He is the end of the whole composition is based, but appeared only occasionally on the surface of the outspoken course.

You today

The Christmas Passion you today was created in 1973. The work for mixed choir a cappella takes about 80 minutes and has the story of the Christmas story according to Luke as the basis. Each of the verses from the second chapter of Luke's Gospel is in a separate block - represented - as in a suite. The titles of the movements are: census / Name register / expectation / lack of space revue / music box / blend cry / song of joy / chorus ( Passacaglia ) / Peace Cantata / Courante / Sanctus / vowel incapacitated / Acoustic Theology / In Nomine / stone cry.

The work is a collage of diverse vocal and scenic elements represents: surface or selectively combined lexical fields; simple songs, movement, games, everyday sounds such as laughing, crying, coughing, groaning. Many ideas that act 700,000 days later influential already in the Passion, will be pursued here consistently. On the other hand, it also increased reliance on traditional, thus leading to an even greater variety of expression arises. Aids in addition to their voice are bells, stones and transistor radios.

Other works

As a church musician Gerd Zacher composed many other cantatas and Passion Music, where his kind of non-conventional representation of music on paper it very easier to realize the choir members, who were not professional singers the unfamiliar music. This inspired him to develop these methods further and further.

Zacher also used combinations of traditional instruments and electronic music producers, such as 1987 event in the 75 ( ualitie ) s for organ and tape. The tape sounds for composing Juan Allende -Blin.

The time still plays a significant role in Gerd Zacher's compositions. Even with her he goes on his own way around: themes and motifs disintegrate into tiny Sprengsel, or time is slowed down so that rows seem to stretch into infinity, and there are overlays of both or back room for regulated improvisation by temporarily self-determined tone duration of the individual voices. That was in 1954 in the five transformations for piano of the case and it is still 1993 in Keystone for Organ.

In the early days he came with all the with his fellow composers in part to a lack of understanding and clear rejection, as well as Stockhausen, the more intensely focused on electronic music. Beginning of the 21st century has been granted and further developed in many directions this approach to music for many composers.

Writings (selection )

About Music

• Analysis of the organ - an interpretation course. In: International Summer Courses for New Music. . . 26 1972 Schott, Mainz, inter alia, 1973 ( = Darmstadt contributions to new music; 13)
• Bach defended against his interpreters. Papers from 1987 to 1992. ( Music concepts; 79/80 ). Edition text and criticism, Munich 1993.
• Observations to Erik Satie's "Messe des pauvres ". In: Erik Satie. ( Music concepts; 11 ) 2, exp. Edition. Edition text and criticism, Munich 1988, pp. 48-63.
• Canonical changes, BWV 769 and 769 a In: Johann Sebastian Bach - The speculative late work. ( Music concepts, 17 /18) 2, unveränd. Edition, Edition text and criticism, Munich 1999, pp. 3-19.
• The secret text of Contrapunctus IV from Bach (suggestions of language for the expression of music). In: Stefan Klöckner (ed.): Godehard Joppich 60th birthday. Bosse, Regensburg 1992, p 219-237.
• The experience of the absence of God in the music of the 20th century. In: Wolfhart Pannenberg (ed.): The experience of the absence of God in modern culture. Cambridge University Press, Göttingen 1984, pp. 137-159.
• The risky relationships between sonata and hymn: Mendelssohn's Organ Sonatas, Op 65 No 1 and 6, in: Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. ( Music concepts; 14/15 ). Edition text and criticism, Munich 1980, p 34-45.
• A fugue is a fugue is a fugue ( Liszt's BACH organ composition ). In: Music and the Church. 47, Issue 1, 1977, pp. 15-23.
• Experience in interpreting graphically notated organ music. In: Newsletter of the National Church Music Director of the Evang. Luth. State Church of Schleswig -Holstein. December 1966, pp. 8f.
• Frescobaldi and the instrumental rhetoric. In: Music and the Church. 45, Issue 2, 1975, pp. 54-64.
• "I know the people do not ": a musicological dilemma. ( Bach's "Art of Fugue " Contrapunctus XI). In: Music and the Church. Vol 56 Issue 6, 1986, pp. 298-299.
• Composed formants. In: Aimez -vous Brahms 'the progressive '? . ( Music concepts; 65th ) edition Text and criticism, Munich 1989, p 69-75.
• Livre d' orgue - a disgrace. In: Olivier Messiaen. ( Music concepts; 28 ) edition Text and criticism, Munich, 1982, p 92-107.
• Collection of material to Dieter Schnebel chorale preludes. In: Dieter Schnebel. ( Music concepts, 16th ) edition Text and criticism, Munich 1980, p 12-22.
• Max Reger. For organ. In: music concepts. No. 115, Edition text and criticism, Munich 2002.
• My experience with the " improvisation ajoutée ". In: Werner Klüppelholz (ed.): Kagel. DuMont, Cologne 1991, pp. 136-154.
• Organ music 20 or 30 years ago, when our presence was still future. In: Acta Organologica. Vol 17, Berlin 1984, pp. 406-415.
• Asides about counting in Schoenberg's " A Survivor from Warsaw ". In: Arnold Schoenberg. ( Music concepts; special tape. ) Edition Text and criticism, Munich, 1980, pp. 146-150.
• Creative tradition instead of historicism. In: Acta Organologica. Vol 17, Berlin 1984, pp. 184-207.
• About a forgotten tradition of legato playing. In: Music and the Church. 43, Issue 4, 1973, pp. 166-171.
• Tool organ. In: The church musician. 19, Issue 5, 1968, pp. 1-4.
• On Anton Webern Bach understanding. In: I. Anton Webern ( music concepts; special tape. ) Edition Text and criticism, Munich, 1983, pp. 290-305.

Translations of Spanish poetry

• Pablo de Rokha: The great grief ( translation: Gerd Zacher and Juan Allende -Blin ). In: Alternative Journal of poetry and discussion. Issue 21, 1961, pp. 133-135.
• Pablo Neruda: There is no oblivion ( Sonata ). / Vicente Huidobro: Alone. / Oscar Castro: Angel and paper dragons. (Translation: Gerd Zacher and Juan Allende -Blin ). In: Gotthard Speer and Hans Jürgen Winter Hoff ( ed.): Milestones of a composer life. Small Festschrift for the 70th birthday of Günter Bialas. Barenreiter, Kassel 1977, p 16f.

Works (selection)