Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow or Zachau (1663, – 1712) was
a German musician and composer of vocal and keyboard
music.
Zachow probably received his training from his father,
the piper Heinrich Zachow, one of Leipzig's town
musicians in the Alta capella, and maybe from Johann
Schelle, a leading German composer, when the family
moved to Eilenburg. As Kantor and organist of Halle's
Market Church in 1684 he succeeded Samuel Ebart. During
his time at Halle he became particularly renowned as a
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Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow or Zachau (1663, – 1712) was
a German musician and composer of vocal and keyboard
music.
Zachow probably received his training from his father,
the piper Heinrich Zachow, one of Leipzig's town
musicians in the Alta capella, and maybe from Johann
Schelle, a leading German composer, when the family
moved to Eilenburg. As Kantor and organist of Halle's
Market Church in 1684 he succeeded Samuel Ebart. During
his time at Halle he became particularly renowned as a
composer of dramatic cantatas. In 1695 he was
criticized by the pietists because of his excessive
long and elaborate music, that could be only
appreciated by cantors and organists. Zachow was
influenced by Johann Theile in Merseburg and the poetry
of Erdmann Neumeister, pastor in the nearby
Weissenfels, and his criticism on pietism.
Zachow was the teacher of Gottfried Kirchhoff, Johann
Philipp Krieger and Johann Gotthilf Ziegler, but is
best remembered as George Frideric Handel's first music
teacher. He taught Handel how to play the violin,
organ, harpsichord, and oboe as well as counterpoint.
Zachow's teaching was so effective, that in 1702 at the
age of seventeen, Handel accepted a position as
organist at the former Dom in Halle. It is said that
after Zachow died in 1712, Handel became a benefactor
to his widow and children in gratitude for his
teacher's instruction. In 1713 J.S. Bach was invited as
Zachow's successor.
Handel continued to use Zachow's compositions in his
own works, not simply quoting, but also in terms of
instrumental colour; for example the cantata Herr, wenn
ich nur dich habe, which is unique in having a harp
solo in the German cantata repertoire, was copied by
Handel, taken to London, and may have influenced the
instrumentation of Saul and Esther.
"Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir" (From deep
affliction I cry out to you), originally "Aus tieffer
not schrey ich zu dir", later also "Aus tiefer Noth
schrei' ich zu dir", is a Lutheran hymn of 1524, with
words written by Martin Luther as a paraphrase of Psalm
130. It was first published in 1524 as one of eight
songs in the first Lutheran hymnal, the Achtliederbuch,
which contained four songs by Luther, three by Paul
Speratus, and one by Justus Jonas, and also appeared
the same year in the Erfurt Enchiridion. It is part of
many hymnals, also in translations. The text inspired
vocal and organ music from the Renaissance to
contemporary, including composers such as Johann
Sebastian Bach, who based a chorale cantata on it,
Felix Mendelssohn and Max Reger. .
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aus_tiefer_Not_schrei_ic
h_zu_dir ).
Although originally created for Pipe Organ, I created
this Arrangement of the Choral Prelude: "Aus tiefer Not
laßt uns zu Gott" ("from deep affliction I cry out to
you" LV 27) for String Quartet (2 Violins, Viola &
Cello).
PARTITION