Introduction

Biography

Zelter was a self taught com­pos­er, con­duct­or and mu­sic teach­er. Work­ing in his fa­ther’s brick­lay­ing bu­si­ness, Zelter al­so at­tained mas­ter­ship in that pro­fess­ion.

At va­ri­ous times, he taught Fel­ix Men­dels­sohn, Fan­ny Men­dels­sohn, Gia­co­mo Mey­er­beer, Ed­uard Grell, Ot­to Nic­o­lai, Jo­hann Fried­rich Naue, and Hein­rich Dorn.

Works

A friend of Jo­hann Wolf­gang von Goe­the (1749–1832), Zel­ter’s works in­clude set­tings of Goe­the’s poems.

During his ca­reer, Zel­ter comp­osed about two hun­dred lied­er, as well as can­ta­tas, a vi­o­la con­cer­to and pi­ano mu­sic.