Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke (23 June 182410 March 1910) was a German

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, conductor, and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

in the mid-

Romantic era Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

Biography

Reinecke was born in what is today the

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

district of Altona; technically he was born a Dane, as until 1864 the town was under Danish rule. He received all his musical instruction from his father, (Johann Peter) Rudolf Reinecke (22 November 179514 August 1883), a music teacher and writer on musical subjects. Carl first devoted himself to violin-playing, but later on turned his attention to the piano. He began to compose at the age of seven, and his first public appearance as a pianist was when he was twelve years old. At the age of 19, he undertook his first concert tour as a pianist in 1843, through Denmark and Sweden, after which he lived for a long time in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, where he studied under

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

and

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

; he entered into friendly relations with the former two. After the stay in Leipzig, Reinecke went on tour with Königslöw and Wilhelm Joseph von Wasielewski (later Schumann's biographer), in North Germany and Denmark. In 1846, Reinecke was appointed Court Pianist for Christian VIII in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. There he remained until 1848, when he resigned and went to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Overall, he wrote four concertos for his instrument (and many

cadenza In music, a cadenza, (from , meaning cadence; plural, ''cadenze'' ) is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist(s), usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and often allowing virtuosic display ...

s for others' works, including a large set published as his Opus 87), as well as concertos for violin, cello, harp and flute. In the winter of 1850/51,

Carl Schurz Carl Christian Schurz (; March 2, 1829 – May 14, 1906) was a German-American revolutionary and an American statesman, journalist, and reformer. He migrated to the United States after the German revolutions of 1848–1849 and became a prominent ...

reports attending weekly "musical evenings" in Paris where Reinecke was in attendance. In 1851, Reinecke became a professor at the Cologne Conservatory. In ensuing years he was appointed musical director in

Barmen Barmen is a former industrial metropolis of the region of Bergisches Land, Germany, which merged with four other towns in 1929 to form the city of Wuppertal. Barmen, together with the neighbouring town of Elberfeld founded the first electric ...

, and became the academic, musical director and conductor of the Singakademie at Breslau. In 1860, Reinecke was appointed director of the

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Gewandhausorchester; also previously known in German as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) is a German symphony orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. The orchestra is named after the concert hall in which it is bas ...

and professor of composition and piano at the

Leipzig Conservatory The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig () is a public university in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn as the Conservatorium der Musik (Conservatory of Music), it is the oldest music ...

. He led the orchestra for more than three decades, until 1895. He conducted premieres such as the full seven-movement version of Brahms's '' A German Requiem'' (1869). In 1865 the Gewandhaus-Quartett premiered his piano quintet, and in 1892 his D major

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

. Reinecke is best known for his flute sonata " Undine", but he is also remembered as one of the most influential and versatile musicians of his time. He served as a teacher for 35 years, until his retirement in 1902. His students included

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic music, Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwid ...

, Basil Harwood,

Charles Villiers Stanford Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Anglo-Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic music, Romantic era. Born to a well-off and highly musical family in Dublin, Stanford was ed ...

, Christian Sinding,

Leoš Janáček Leoš Janáček (, 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, Music theory, music theorist, Folkloristics, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian folk music, Moravian and other Slavs, Slavic music, includin ...

, Isaac Albéniz, August Max Fiedler, Walter Niemann, Johan Svendsen, Richard Franck,

Felix Weingartner Paul Felix Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg (2 June 1863 – 7 May 1942) was an Austrian Conducting, conductor, composer and pianist. Life and career Weingartner was born in Zadar, Zara, Kingdom of Dalmatia, Dalmatia, Austrian Empire (now ...

Max Bruch Max Bruch (6 January 1838 – 2 October 1920) was a German Romantic Music, Romantic composer, violinist, teacher, and conductor who wrote more than 200 works, including three violin concertos, the first of which has become a staple of the violin ...

, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Anna Diller Starbuck, Ernest Hutcheson, Felix Fox, Sofie Rohnstock, August Winding, Elisabeth Wintzer, Mykola Lysenko, and many others. After retirement from the conservatory, Reinecke devoted his time to composition, resulting in almost three hundred published works. He wrote several operas (none of which are performed today) including ''König Manfred''. During this time, he frequently made concert tours to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and elsewhere. His piano playing belonged to a school in which grace and neatness were characteristic, and at one time he was probably unrivaled as a Mozart player and an accompanist. In 1904 at the age of 80, he made recordings of seven works playing on

piano roll A piano roll is a music storage medium used to operate a player piano, piano player or reproducing piano. Piano rolls, like other music rolls, are continuous rolls of paper with holes punched into them. These perforations represent note contro ...

for the Welte-Mignon company, making him the earliest-born pianist to have his playing preserved in any format. He subsequently made a further 14 for the Aeolian Company's "Autograph Metrostyle" piano roll visual marking system and an additional 20 for the Hupfeld DEA reproducing piano roll system. Reinecke died in Leipzig at age 85.

Works

* Ballade for flute and orchestra in D minor, Op. 288 (1908) (his last opus number) * Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Op. 72, 1860 * Piano Concerto No. 2 in E minor, Op. 120, 1872 * Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 144, 1877 * Piano Concerto No. 4 in B minor, Op. 254, 1900 * Violin Concerto in G minor, Op. 141, 1877 * Serenade for strings in G minor, Op. 242, around 1898 * Trio for piano, oboe and horn in A minor, Op. 188, 1886 * Trio for piano, clarinet and viola in A, Op. 264 * Trio for piano, clarinet and horn in B-flat, Op. 274, 1905 * Octet for winds in B-flat, Op. 216, 1892 * Sextet for flute, oboe, clarinet, 2 horns and bassoon in B-flat, Op. 271 * Five string quartets (Op. 16 in E-flat, 1843; Op. 30 in F, 1851; Op. 132 in C, 1874; Op. 211 in D major, 1890; and Op. 287) * Organ Sonata, Op. 284 * Piano Sonata for the left hand, Op. 179, 1884 * String Trio in C minor, Op. 249 * Sonata for flute (''Sonata Undine''), Op. 167, 1882 * Sonatas for cello and piano (three, in A minor, Op. 42, 1847-8; D major, Op. 89, 1866; and G major, Op. 238, 1897, recorded on cpo) * Three light piano trios, Op. 159a * Piano Trio, Op. 230 * ''Drei Fantasiestücke für Viola und Klavier'', Op. 43 (Three fantasy pieces for viola and piano) * Symphony No. 1 in A Major, Op. 79 * Symphony No. 2 in C minor "Håkon Jarl", Op. 134, 1874 * Symphony No. 3 in G minor, Op. 227

Media

Notes

References

Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke Page
- includes a detailed worklist *

External links

* *

Soundbites and discussion of works * ttp://intimatemusic.blogspot.com/2010/10/who-on-earth-is-reinecke.html Discussion of Reinecke string quartet No 4 in Dbr>The Passing of Carl Reinicke
from th

Recordings

The Reproducing Piano Roll Foundation

(ARC-106, Archiphon) {{DEFAULTSORT:Reinecke, Carl 1824 births 1910 deaths 19th-century German classical composers 19th-century German classical pianists 19th-century German conductors (music) 20th-century German classical composers 20th-century German classical pianists 20th-century German conductors (music) 20th-century German male musicians Composers for harp Composers for piano German male conductors (music) German male pianists German opera composers German Romantic composers German male classical pianists German male opera composers People from Altona, Hamburg Musicians from Leipzig Pupils of Felix Mendelssohn Pupils of Franz Liszt Pupils of Robert Schumann Academic staff of the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig German string quartet composers Kapellmeisters of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra