Jan Zach (1713-1773)
- Missa S[ancti] Thomae Aquin[atis] a Canto, Alto, Tenore, Basso, 2 
Violini,
2 Traversi, obl., 2 Oboe, 3. Trombe [and] 2 Corni in D. Viola 
& Organo (1771)
Performers: Ingrid Kеrtеsi (soprano); Bernhard Landaսer (alto); Johannes
 Chսm (tenor); Wolf Matthias Friеdrich (bass)
Kammerchor Collegium Vocale Innsbruck; Kammerorchester Bratislava; 
Bеrnhard Siеbеrеr (conductor)
Further info: Jan Zach (1713-1773) - Missa ex D à 4 (c.1755)
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Bohemian composer and organist. The son of a wheelwright, he went to 
Prague in 1724 and began his career as a violinist at St Gallus and at 
St Martín. According to Dlabacž, he studied organ under Bohuslav Matěj 
Černohorský, who lived in Prague from 1720 to 1727. Zach's career as 
organist started at St Martín, and by 1737 he was also playing the organ
 at the monastic church of the Merciful Brethren and the Minorite chapel
 of St Ann. In 1737 he competed for the position of organist at St. 
Vitus Cathedral, but was not successful. Details of what happened next 
are unknown: he was reported to have left Bohemia, but apparently 
remained in Prague at least until 1740. By early 1745 he was living in 
Augsburg and then on 24 April 1745 he was appointed Kapellmeister of the
 Electoral orchestra at the court of Johann Friedrich Karl von Ostein, 
Prince-Elector of Mainz. He visited Italy in 1746 and, briefly, Bohemia 
in 1747. Zach evidently had a complex and eccentric personality, which 
led to numerous conflicts that plagued his life at Mainz. He was 
suspended from his position in 1750 and finally dismissed in 1756. From 
that point on it appears that Zach never again had steady employment. He
 traveled through Europe and supported himself financially by performing
 and selling copies of his works, teaching, dedicating his compositions,
 and so on. He visited numerous courts and monasteries in Germany and 
Austria, stayed in Italy in 1767 and between 1771 and 1772, and may have
 worked as choirmaster at the Pairis Abbey in Alsace. He stayed several 
times at the Stams Abbey at Stams, Tyrol, where he may have had 
connections, and served as music teacher at the Jesuit school in Munich,
 for several brief periods of time. The last mentions of Zach in 
contemporary sources indicate that in January 1773 he was at the 
Wallerstein court, and according to the Frankfurt Kayserliche 
Reichs-Ober-Post-Amts-Zeitung of 5 June 1773 he died on a journey, at 
Ellwangen. Zach was buried in the local church of St Wolfgang.

 
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