A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Zerrahn, Carl

ZERRAHN, Carl, born at Malchow, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, July 28, 1826. Began the study of music at Rostock, under F. Weber, and continued it at Hanover and Berlin. The revolution of 1848, in Germany, had the effect of expatriating a number of young musicians, among whom was Zerrahn, who went to the United States, and, under the title of the 'Germania Musical Society,' gave concerts of classical music for orchestra, in many of the larger cities, with considerable success. In this orchestra Zerrahn played first flute. He was, in 1854, appointed conductor of the Handel and Haydn Society at Boston, succeeding Carl Bergmann, who had also been director of the 'Germania,' and he still retains the position (1887). For several years the only classical orchestral concerts in Boston were given by Zerrahn at his own risk. On the establishment of the Harvard Symphony Concerts, in 1865, Zerrahn received the appointment of conductor, and remained in charge until the concerts were given up (1882). The festivals given by the Handel and Haydn Society in May 1865, and triennially thereafter, until 1883, when they were suspended, were all under his direction. He occupied a prominent position among the directors at the Peace Jubilees at Boston, 1869 and 1872, and for several years has directed the annual autumn festivals at Worcester, Mass. Similar enterprises, generally on a. large scale, at New York, San Francisco, and elsewhere, have been conducted by him. The Oratorio Society of Salem, Mass., has been under Zerrahn's care ever since its organisation in 1868, as have also been numerous choral and orchestral societies and male singing-clubs belonging to Boston or its neighbourhood.

[ F. H. J. ]