Friedrich Wilhelm Markull (1816 - 1887) was a German
organist and classical composer. Hw was born in
Reichenbach near Elbing in the Prussian province of
Pomerania. He showed musical promise at an early age,
and studied piano and organ with his father, who was
organist of St. Annenkirche, Elbing. By the age of
nine, Markull was so skilled at leading chorales and
playing organ that his father entrusted him with
playing complete services. At the same age, he was
studying theory, organ and violin at...(+)
Friedrich Wilhelm Markull (1816 - 1887) was a German
organist and classical composer. Hw was born in
Reichenbach near Elbing in the Prussian province of
Pomerania. He showed musical promise at an early age,
and studied piano and organ with his father, who was
organist of St. Annenkirche, Elbing. By the age of
nine, Markull was so skilled at leading chorales and
playing organ that his father entrusted him with
playing complete services. At the same age, he was
studying theory, organ and violin at the Gymnasium in
Elbing. While playing violin in the school’s
orchestra, where he became firmly grounded in Classical
form and style, which experience his biographer Neumann
asserts inoculated him against “later addiction to
the Romantic”. In 1833 he was sent to Dessau where he
studied composition and organ at the
Friedrich-Schneider-Musikchule, with emphasis on a
thorough grounding in the works of J. S. Bach. Already
in 1835 Gustav Schilling predicted in his
Universal-Lexicon der Tonkunst that Markull would
become one of the greatest organists and composers of
all time.
In 1836 Markull was appointed principal organist of the
Marienkirche in Danzig (now modern day Gdansk in
Poland), the largest Lutheran church in the world, with
its renowned late Renaissance Dutch organ built by
Julius Anthoni Friese. At the same time he became music
director of the city’s Gesangverein. In 1842 he
assumed additional duties as singing master of the
Danzig Gymnasium, and in 1847 the title of Royal Music
Director was conferred upon him. During his long tenure
with the Gesangverein he performed all the great
oratorios of Handel, Haydn, Graun, Mozart, Beethoven,
Spohr, Mendelssohn and many others, as well as his
own oratorios Johannes der Täufer and Das Gedächtniss
der Entschlafenen. (In an interesting aside, sacred
music scholar Robin Leaver made a convincing case that
Johannes Brahms drew material from Markull’s Das
Gedächtniss der Entschlafenen for Ein deutsches
Requiem.) He conducted his own works in acclaimed
performances in Danzig, Leipzig, Berlin, Königsberg,
Erfurt, Riga, Kassel and elsewhere. Markull was also
active in chamber music as pianist and violinist, and
organized many orchestral concerts in Danzig. He also
wrote music criticism for the Danziger Zeitung.
In 1886 the city of Danzig honored Markull with great
celebrations for his seventieth birthday and for a half
century’s dedicated service. Friedrich Wilhelm
Markull died at the age of 71 in Danzig on April 30,
1887. Although sometimes noted as a composer of only
local importance, from today’s perspective it is
clear that Markull was the most influential nineteenth
century musical force in Danzig, and his historical
importance cannot be underestimated. Since his death
over 120 years ago, only a very few isolated works by
this largely forgotten composer have been published in
a modern edition.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Wilhelm_Markul
l).
Although originally composed for Organ, I created this
Interpretation of "O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid" (O
darkest woe, o heart's pain) from 24 Chorals (Op. 123
No. 22) for String Quartet (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).
