Tsachau, Friedrich Wilhelm

Friedrich Wilhelm Zachau was born on November 14, 1663 in Leipzig , Germany. His father was the bagpiper Heinrich Tsachau (? - 1684), one of the urban musicians of Leipzig in Alt Capelle. He first learned to play musical instruments. And when the family moved to Eilenburg , because of the musical abilities of the boy, Johann Schell , the then famous German composer, was assigned to study ^[1] . After the death of his father, he moved to Halle , where in 1684 he became the rector and organist of the Church of the Virgin Mary , replacing Samuel Ebart in this post. During his stay in Halle, he became especially known as a composer of dramatic cantatas. He was often criticized for his excessively long and elaborate music, which only organists could appreciate. Friedrich Wilhelm also especially admired the music of Johann Teile and the poetry of Erdmann Neumeister .

Friedrich Wilhelm Tsachau was a teacher of Gottfried Kirchhoff , Johann Philip Krieger and, of course, George Friedrich Handel , whom he “taught to play the violin , organ , harpsichord , oboe and counterpoint ”. Learning from him proved so effective that in 1702, at the age of seventeen, Handel took up the post of organist in Dom in Halle .

In the last years of his life, the composer’s health deteriorated. On August 7, 1712, after a brief illness, Tsachau died at his home in Halle ^[2] .

After Tsachau's death, Handel supported his wife and children in gratitude to his teacher ^[3] .

In 1713, Johann Ernst brought a large number of notes to Johann Sebastian Bach , among which were Tsachau's compositions.

Handel later used Tsachau compositions as the basis of his own works (for example, the cantata " Herr, wenn ich nur dich habe ").

• Mass "Missa super chorale Christ lag in Todesbanden"
• 24 cantatas, the most famous are Chorus ille coelitum (1698), Confitebor tibi Domine (1701), Danksaget dem Vater (1702)
• C-Dur, Präludium C-Dur, Präludium F-Dur, Fuge C-Dur, Two Fugues G-Dur, Fantasia D-Dur, Capriccio d-Moll, Suite h-Moll, Trio F-Dur für Flauto traverso, Fagott und Basso continuo.