Frederick Zech 1858-1926

[giles.enders]

Frederick Zech  Born 10.5.1858 Philadelphia  Died 15.10.1926 San Francisco

He was the son of a piano manufacturer. At the age of two, he moved with his parents to to San Francisco. He studied in Berlin(1878-82) under Theodore Kullak and Breslauer

Orchestral

Symphony No.1
Sumphony No.2 in C minor  1885
Symphony No.3 in F minor  1883
Symphony No.4 in C major 'Sinfonia California'
Symphony No.5 in B minor 'Madrone'  1893
Symphonic poem 'The Eve of St.Agnes'  1892
Symphonic poem 'The Raven'  1892
Symphonic poem 'Lamia'  1899
Symphonic poem 'Terrae Motus'
Symphonic poem 'The Wreck of the Hesperus'  1903
Larghetto and menuetto in G major 1881
Fugue in C major 1881
Introduction and fugue in E minor  1881
Concert overture in A minor  1882
Concert overture 1892
Piano Concerto No.1 in D minor
Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor  1883
Piano Concerto in A major  1893
Piano Concerto in B flat minor  1896
Violin Concerto in B flat major  1907
Cello Concerto in A minor

Chamber

Piano Quintet  1903
Piano Trio
Wedding March for violin, cello and piano  1911
Polish Dance in D major for two violins, viola, cello and double bass
String Quartet 'Sans Souci'  1897
String Quartet 1902
String trio 'Sequoia'
Violin Sonata 1895
Violin Sonata 1898
Violin Sonata 'Hesperus'  1899
Polish Dance in G major for violin and piano  1898
Cello Sonata  1897
Flute Sonata in B flat major1906
Clarinet Sonata in B flat major  1897
Clarinet Sonata in A major
Theme, variations and presto for two pianos in A major  1895

Piano

Two pieces  Op.3
Five pieces - Valse Gracieuse, Polish Dance, Etude, Barcarolle and Berceuse.
Four pieces  Op.30
'Twilight' Op.42/2
Cradle Song Op.40/1 Menuet Gracieuse  Op.40/2
Humoreske
Polish Dance in A minor
Polish Dance in E major
Polish Dance in F minor
Polish Dance in C sharp minor
Prelude in B flat minor
'Rising Moon'  1908
Valse Allemange 
Theme and eight variations
Theme and ten variations  1890

Vocal

Three lieder for male chorus
Two lieder for four voices
'The Absent Sailor' for metzo and orchestra  1883
'Lobet den Herrn for mixed voices and piano
Benedictus qui venit in Domini  for mixed choir

Song

There are over fifty

Opera

La Paloma: The Cruise of the Excelsior  1896
Wa-Kin-Yon: The Red Man  1914

[Mark Thomas]

Fascinating, Giles. Thank you. One of those totally unknown composers whose work list alone makes one salivate. I wonder what the music sounds like? Do we have a clue?

[Alan Howe]

Yes, that's quite a catalogue, isn't it? Fascinating.

[eschiss1]

I can't track down any publications. I'm putting up a wishlist request @ IMSLP (for this and , greedy person I am, for works by Fritz Zech (1875-sometime after 1911) and the Baroque/early-Classical Church composers Markus and Philipp Zech too... why not, why not... Julius Zech seems moderately interesting too but- another time... sorry) Anyhow, I hope the ms. for these works are still somewhere, and that if they have been published the dates of first publication were not too recently (selfishness on my part, an "editio princeps" law related thingie.)
But even if they were, much better that interesting and good music gets out there, than not, to my prejudiced mind.

[jerfilm]

And I thought I had a fairly comprehensive  list of forgotten Yankees........I don't expect this is one we'll ever hear.

J

[Gareth Vaughan]

Certainly one of the most obscure composers ever. I hadn't heard of him and, like Eric, can find no mention of any published works in the major national library collections. Where does the list of works come from, Giles?

[eschiss1]

Hrm.

Inventory of the Frederick Zech collection...

Yep, they seem to have the manuscripts of e.g. the concert overture, his opera The Wreck of the Hesperus, and much else there...

If his music is to be looked at and considered, it'll be by someone in, near, or taking a trip to Berkeley and asking permission to see the collection, and going from there. Not promising (I see their point of view though I personally prefer wider distribution as a means of ensuring preservation- etc. ...), but it could be worse for a composer, it could be entirely lost...  but anyhow, I think that answers some of the questions I had about the where etc.

[Mark Thomas]

This PDF has details of Berkeley's collection.

[edurban]

From the 4th edition of Baker's Biographical Dictionary (1940):

Zech, Frederick, b. Philadelphia, May 10, 1858; d. San Francisco, Oct. 25, 1926.  St. pf. in San Francisco with L.Heckmanns and R.Schumacher; in Berlin (1877-82) with Kullack (pf.), E.Breslaur (theory) and F. Neumann (comp.); taught pf. in Kullack's 'Neue Akademie'.  Upon his return to San Francisco he conducted  symph. concerts there (1882-3 and 1903); also held classes in advanced pf. playing. He comp. 4 symph. poems, 4 pf. concertos, a vln.-concerto, a vcl.-concerto, chamber music, etc.

Not in John Tasker Howard.

Dying to know what this music sounds like...wonder where the rest of the violin concerto and cello concerto may (or may not) be...

2 unknown clarinet sonatas? a piano quintet called 'Californicum'?  a piano trio called 'Sequoia'?  How have we Americans missed this?

David

PS. Holy Cow, he was the photographer Ansel Adams' piano teacher.  See this article about the clarinet sonatas:

http://www.clarinet.org/pdfs/competitions/research-abstracts/2010/Hanudel%20Abstract.pdf

[eschiss1]

Thanks to Cypressdome for uploading two of Zech's piano pieces opus 40 to IMSLP.

[giles.enders]

Much of his archive is in The University of California (Berkeley)

[eschiss1]

linked to it above, yep.