Grell, August Eduard 11/06/1800 - 08/10/1886

August Eduard Grell (1800-1866) was a German composer and organist. He was born in Berlin and in 1817 he studied composition with Carl Friedrich Zelter and Carl Friedrich Rungenhagen at the newly established Sing-Akademie. He continued his music theory education in Erfurt with Michael Gotthardt Fischer. After a few stops along his musical way he became director of the Berlin Sing-Akademie from 1851-1876. He is considered an unusually prolific and many-sided composer and defender of the ideal of "naked" vocal music, a cappella singing. He composed above all vocal music, including Singspiele, cantatas, oratorios and operas. From his pen also appeared three symphonies, three string quartets and numerous fugues.