Gallus Zeiler

Gallus Zeiler OSB (born May 10, 1705 in Buchenberg ; † January 7, 1755 in Füssen ) was abbot of the St. Mang monastery . As a musician and monastery composer, he gained national recognition.

Life

Gallus Zeiler was born in Moosers near Buchenberg in the Waltenhofen parish , which belonged to the territory of the Kempten monastery . His parents had him baptized in the name of Gordianus , a patron saint of the Kempten monastery. First he attended school in the prince's monastery in Kempten, then he was sent to the schools of the imperial monasteries in Ochsenhausen and Ottobeuren . He finally completed his studies at the University of Innsbruck .

On October 27, 1721, Gordianus Zeiler entered the Benedictine monastery of St. Mang in Füssen and received the religious name Gallus . After studying philosophy and theology, Father Gallus was ordained a priest on August 4, 1729. His musical talent was particularly valued in the monastery. According to contemporary reports, he was "an excellent organist, vocalist and composer" .

As a conventual in St. Mang, the young priest was also given the task of teaching “music” . Following his teaching activities, he became vicar in the neighboring Tyrolean town of Pinswang . On December 23, 1739, Abbot Benedikt Pautner appointed Father Gallus as administrator for the estates in Lana in South Tyrol. One of his first initiatives was the renovation of St. Martin's Chapel, which was repainted and given a new altar, "the most beautiful in Lana" .

After Abbot Leopold von Rost died unexpectedly on November 7th, 1750, Father Gallus was ordered to be elected abbot in Füssen, where he was elected abbot by his fellow brothers on December 1st, 1750 in the fourth ballot. During his reign, the organ builder Andreas Jäger from Füssen also built the great organ and the choir organ of St. Mang . In addition to building the magnificent organ, he had the Magnus Chapel in the monastery church renovated and in 1751 commissioned his relative Franz Anton Zeiller to paint the ceiling paintings. He had a new wooden canopy installed over the choir altar.

During his reign the focus was on the visible and tangible veneration of God expressed through art, music and Vasa sacra . On the morning of January 7, 1755 at 6 o'clock, Abbot Gallus died of a sudden stroke in the monk's choir while singing the prim in the arms of Prior Placidus Zerle . He was buried in the monk's crypt in the monastery church of St. Mang, where the epitaph is also attached.

Compositions

• Cithara Mariana, 16 antiphons (printed by Joh.Christian Leopold, Augsburg 1732)
• Dulia harmonica… per 12 arias
• Orpheus ecclesiasticus, XII Concerti (printed by Lotter, Augsburg 1735)
• XXX German arias divided into the whole year (printed by Lotter, Augsburg 1736)
• Canticum Marianum bipartitum, XII Magnificat complectens ... opus V (printed by Lotter, Augsburg 1737, digital copy of the Bavarian State Library in Munich )
• Latria musica ... XX Benedictiones ... opus VI (printed by Lotter, Augsburg 1739)
• XVI Antiphonae (printed by Joh.Christian Leopold, Augsburg 1740)
• Responsoria ad lamentationes hebdomadae sanctae

Audio documents

• Gallus Zeiler (1705–1755): Arias . From the series: Music from Upper Swabian monasteries . Attempto Verlag Tübingen 1995.
• Orpheus ecclesiasticus - Abbot Gallus Zeiler 1705-1755 . MPV-Musikverlag 2002.

literature

• Löschberger-Holzer, Margarete: P. Gallus Zeiler - A composer at the St. Mang monastery in Füssen . In: Volume 5 Music in Bavarian Monasteries I. Contributions to the maintenance of music by the Benedictines and Franciscans . Regensburg 1986. ISBN 3-7649-2279-6 .
• Riedel, Friedrich Wilhelm; Hörner, Stephan (ed.): Abbot Gallus Zeiler OSB (1705-1755) and the maintenance of music in the St. Mang monastery in Füssen . Tutzing 2007. ISBN 978-3-7952-1248-3 .
• Wankmiller, Klaus: Gallus Zeiller (1705 - 1755). Music teacher, vineyard manager, abbot and composer, in: Von Tuten und Blasen (no idea ... musical extra remote). Booklet accompanying the exhibition of the Museum Association of the Reutte District, Reutte 2012, pp. 19–21.

Web links

• Works by and about Gallus Zeiler in the catalog of the German National Library