Joseph Reinagle (1762 – 12 November 1825) was a music composer and popular cellist of the 18th century. He was a contemporary of Joseph Haydn, with whom he performed as principal cello. He also wrote a guide to playing the cello.

Biography

Joseph Reinagle, the son of a German musician resident in

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 ...

, was born in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

in 1762. He was the brother of

Alexander Reinagle Alexander Robert Reinagle (23 April 1756 – 21 September 1809) was an English-born American composer, organist, and theater musician. He should not be confused with his nephew of the same name, Alexander Robert Reinagle (21 August 1799 – 6 A ...

. He was at first intended for the navy, but became apprentice to a jeweller in Edinburgh. Then, adopting music as a profession, he studied the

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

and

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

with his father, and soon appeared in public as a player of those instruments. Acting on medical advice, he abandoned the wind instruments, and studied the

violoncello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C ...

under Schetky (who married his sister), and the

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

under Aragoni. He succeeded so well that he was appointed leader of the

Edinburgh Theatre Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

band. After appearing as a cellist in

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, he went in 1784 to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, where he remained for two years. Returning to London, he took a prominent position in the chief orchestras, and was principal cello at the Salomon concerts under Haydn, who showed him much kindness. Engaged to play at the Oxford concerts, he was so well received that he settled in the city and died there in November 1825, aged 62 or 63. Reinagle was a very able violoncellist, and enjoyed a wide popularity.

Nathaniel Gow Nathaniel Gow (28 May 1763 – 19 January 1831 ) was a Scottish musician who was the fourth son of Niel Gow, and a celebrated performer, composer and arranger of tunes, songs and other pieces on his own right. He wrote about 200 compositions in ...

was one of his Edinburgh pupils. He composed a good deal of music for violin, violoncello, and pianoforte, and wrote a ''Concise Introduction to the Art of playing the Violoncello'' (London, 1830), which went through four editions. A son, Alexander Robert Reinagle, musician, born at Brighton on 11 August 1799, was from 1823 to 1853 organist of St. Peter's-in-the-East, Oxford, and died at

Kidlington Kidlington is a village and civil parish in the Cherwell district of Oxfordshire, England. It is in-between the River Cherwell and Oxford Canal, north of Oxford and south-west of Bicester. It had a population of 13,600 at the 2021 Census. ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, where he was buried on 6 April 1877. He published ''Psalm Tunes for the Voice and Pianoforte'' (circa 1830), in which appears the tune 'St. Peter,' widely used, and included in most church collections of the late nineteenth century.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reinagel, Joseph 1762 births English composers British cellists Musicians from Portsmouth 1825 deaths