Zeller, Carl (Johann Adam)

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Zeller, Carl (Johann Adam)

Zeller, Carl (Johann Adam), Austrian composer; b. St. Peter-in-der-Au, June 19, 1842; d. Baden, near Vienna, Aug. 17,1898. He learned to sing and play various instruments in his youth, and at age 11 became a member of the boy’s choir at the Vienna court chapel; pursued training in law at the Univ. of Vienna and the Univ. of Graz (Dr.Jur., 1869) and in composition from Simon Sechter in Vienna. After practicing law, he was an official in the Austrian Ministry of Education and Culture (from 1873). Although following music only as an avocation, he became one of the most popular operetta composers of the day, winning extraordinary success with his Der Vogelhändler (Vienna, Jan. 10,1891) and Der Obersteiger (Vienna, Jan. 5,1894). Other successful operettas (all produced in Vienna) were Joconda (March 18, 1876), Die Carbonari (Nov. 27, 1880), Der Vagabund (Oct. 30, 1886), and Der Kellermeister (Dec. 21, 1901).

Bibliography

C.W. Zeller, Mein Vater C. Z. (St. Polten, 1942).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire