Carl Gotthelf Gerlach

Carl Gotthelf Gerlach (born December 31, 1704 in Calbitz , † July 9, 1761 in Leipzig ) was a German organist , composer and violinist . He was a student of Johann Sebastian Bach .

Life

Gerlach was born in 1704 as the son of the Calbitz pastor Gotthelf Gerlach. Like his father and younger brother Heinrich August, he attended the St. Thomas School in Leipzig and was taught by St. Thomas Cantor Johann Kuhnau from 1717 to 1723 . Most likely, he was already a student of Kuhnau's famous successor, Johann Sebastian Bach, in 1723 .

After leaving school he assisted Bach as a singer ( alto ), violinist and harpsichordist ; he worked on the figural music for the Thomas and Nikolaikirche and accompanied his teacher to concerts. In 1727 he enrolled at the University of Leipzig in law . In 1729 he became organist and music director (succeeding Georg Balthasar Schott ) at the Leipzig New Church with the help of Bach ; his substitute was Johann Gottlieb Wiedner . From 1729 onwards, Gerlach was probably supported by the Leipzig City Council. His church music work was considered quite modern for the time.

After having repeatedly represented Bach, he was interim director of the Collegium musicum from 1737 to 1739 . Not later than 1744, more likely 1741, he became its final director. In 1747 he temporarily handed over his duties to Johann Trier . He also worked as the concertmaster of the “Great Concert”, the forerunner of the Gewandhaus Concerts . He also played the viola d'amore . In 1761 he died after a long illness. He was unmarried and childless.

Gerlach left behind a number of handwritten music items that came into the property of the music publisher Johann Gottlob Immanuel Breitkopf . However, only two of his own works have survived.

literature

• Andreas Glöckner:  Gerlach, Carl Gotthelf. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
• Andreas Glöckner: Handwritten music from the estates of Carl Gotthelf Gerlach and Gottlob Harrer in the Breitkopf publisher's offers 1761–1769 . In: Bach-Jahrbuch , Vol. 70 (1984), pp. 107-116.
• Hans-Rainer Jung: The Gewandhaus Orchestra. Its members and its history since 1743. With contributions on cultural and contemporary history by Claudius Böhm , Faber and Faber, Leipzig 2006, ISBN 3-936618-86-0 , p. 18.

Web links

• Carl Gotthelf Gerlach at Bach Cantatas (English)