Joseph Wackenthaler

Joseph Wackenthaler (20 November 1795 – 3 March 1869) was a French Kapellmeister from 1819, an organist from 1833 to 1869 at the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, and a composer. Wackenthaler’s reputation is due to his genius for improvisation and his ability to adapt the organ to liturgical requirements. He published many small organ compositions for teaching purposes as well as edited organ pieces by German composers. Life Born in Sélestat (Bas-Rhin) (Alsace), Wackenthaler’s father, François-Joseph Wackenthaler (1767–1828), organist of the main church of Sélestat, was the founder of a family of musicians. Two of his brothers, François-Charles and François-Louis, and his nephew Nicolas-Joseph Wackenthaler were organists at the St. George’s Church of Sélestat. His second son, François Xavier Joseph (1823–1856), was organist at Haguenau and later in Paris, where he was the first organ teacher at the École Niedermeyer of Paris. His father taught him music, without neglecting literary studies. Joseph Wackenthaler shared first prizes of the college in his hometown with the most distinguished students. At the time he finished his studies, he first planned to entering a religious orde