Friedrich Julius Reubke (23 March 18343 June 1858) 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 ...

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, ...

and

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

. In his short life, he composed the '' Sonata on the 94th Psalm'' in

C minor C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major. The C natural minor scale is: Cha ...

, which is considered to be one of the greatest

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

works in the romantic repertoire.

Biography

Born in Hausneindorf, a small village in the region of the

Harz Mountains The Harz (), also called the Harz Mountains, is a Mittelgebirge, highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The nam ...

, Julius Reubke was the eldest son of

and

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

builder Adolf Reubke (1805-1875). Of Julius's five siblings, two brothers, Emil (1836–1884) and Karl (1840–1860), worked with their father; Emil became a partner in 1860 and owned the company from 1872. His brother Otto (1842–1913) was also a pianist, organist and composer; he prepared the ''Sonata on the 94th Psalm'' for its first publication in August 1871. Otto settled in Halle, where he was a professor at the

University of Halle Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...

, and became its director in 1892. There were also two sisters, Meta and Alma. Reubke's first musical instruction was in

Quedlinburg Quedlinburg () is a town situated just north of the Harz mountains, in the Harz (district), district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. As an influential and prosperous trading centre during the early Middle Ages, Quedlinburg becam ...

with Hermann Bönicke (1821–1879). He moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in April or October 1851, where he continued his musical education at the conservatory there, which had been founded in November 1850 by Theodor Kullak, with whom he studied piano,

Adolf Bernhard Marx Friedrich Heinrich Adolf Bernhard Marx . B. Marx(15 May 1795, Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle – 17 May 1866, Berlin) was a German people, German Music theory, music theorist, Music criticism, critic, and musicologist. Life Marx was the son of ...

, with whom he studied composition, and Julius Stern. In Berlin, he encountered the Neudeutsche Schule with conductor

Hans von Bülow Freiherr Hans Guido von Bülow (; 8 January 1830 – 12 February 1894) was a German conductor, pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. As one of the most distinguished conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for establishi ...

and organist Alexander Winterberger, both associated with

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 ...

. When Liszt visited Berlin in December 1855, he arranged, on the recommendation of Bülow, to teach Reubke

and

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

from February 1856 in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

, and allowed him to live at the Altenburg house he kept. It was in this environment that Reubke composed his two major works, the Piano Sonata in B-flat minor, which he composed from December 1856 to March 1857, and the '' Sonata on the 94th Psalm'' in C minor, for

, which he finished a month later; he also considered writing an

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

. The organ sonata was dedicated to Professor Carl Riedel; its premiere was by Reubke on the Ladegast organ (1853-1855) of Merseburg Cathedral on 17 June 1857. Since its composition, it has been considered one of the pinnacles of the Romantic repertoire. His health was already in decline at the time of his great compositions: He moved to

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

in December 1857. By this time, he was suffering from worsening

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

, and did not have the energy to play or compose. He moved to the health resort at Pillnitz in May 1858, where he died at the ''Zum Goldenen Löwen'' inn a few days later, at the age of 24. He was buried near the church of Maria am Wasser in Pillnitz-Hosterwitz on 7 June. He was one of Liszt's favourite pupils; after his death, Liszt wrote a letter of sympathy to Reubke's father:

Compositions

* Piano Sonata in B-flat minor (1857) - influenced by Liszt's Sonata in B minor *'' Sonata on the 94th Psalm'' in

(1857) for

- influenced by Liszt's Fantasy and Fugue on the chorale "Ad nos, ad salutarem undam"'' * Trio in

E-flat major E-flat major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats. Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E minor, (or enharmonically D minor). The E-fla ...

for organ (1850) * Mazurka in

E major E major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, F-flat maj ...

for

(1856) *

Scherzo A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often r ...

D minor D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is F major and its parallel major is D major. The D natural minor scale is: Changes needed ...

for piano (1856) * Adagio in

E minor E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp, on the F. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major. The E natural minor scale is: Change ...

for organ

Lost

Overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") is a music instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overtures which ...

Songs A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usuall ...

for

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

and piano *

Chorale A chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of " Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one o ...

-variation on '' O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden''

Sources

*Michael Gailit: ''Julius Reubke (1834–1858)'', notes to Kevin Bowyer's recording of ''The 94th Psalm'',

Nimbus Records Nimbus Records is a British record company based at Wyastone Leys, Ganarew, Herefordshire. It specialises in classical music recordings and was the first company in the UK to produce compact discs. Description Nimbus was founded in 1972 by C ...

, NI 5361 (1993)

External links

*
Reubke family photographs
- at reubke-organ.de, the successors of the original Reubke organ building family {{DEFAULTSORT:Reubke, Julius 1834 births 1858 deaths 19th-century German classical composers 19th-century German classical pianists 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis 19th-century German male musicians Composers for piano Composers for pipe organ German classical organists German male classical composers German pianists German male pianists German Romantic composers Tuberculosis deaths in Germany German male classical pianists People from Harz (district) Musicians from the Province of Saxony German male classical organists 19th-century German organists