Carl Reinecke

Carl Reinecke in 1890

Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke (June 23, 1824 – March 10, 1910) was a German composer, conductor, and pianist.

Biography

Reinecke was born in Altona, Hamburg, Germany, at that time a Danish town. He studied with his father, Johann Peter Rudolph Reinecke, a music teacher. Carl began to compose at the age of seven, and his first public appearance as a pianist was when he was twelve years old.

He undertook his first concert tour, in 1843, through Denmark and Sweden. After a stay in Leipzig, where he studied under Mendelssohn and Schumann, Reinecke went on tour with Königslöw and Wasielewski, Schumann's biographer, in North Germany and Denmark. In 1846, he was appointed Court Pianist for Christian VIII in Copenhagen. There he remained until 1848, when he resigned and went to Paris.^[1] Overall he wrote four concertos for his instrument (and many cadenzas 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 reports attending weekly “musical evenings” in Paris where Reinecke was in attendance.^[2] In 1851, Reinecke became a professor at the Cologne Conservatory. In ensuing years he was appointed musical director at Barmen, and became the academic, musical director and conductor of the Singakademie at Breslau.

In 1860, Reinecke was appointed director of the Gewandhaus Orchestra concerts in Leipzig, and professor of composition and piano at the Conservatorium. He led the orchestra until 1895. There he conducted such premieres as the full seven-movement version of Brahms's German Requiem (1869). In 1865 the Gewandhaus-Quartett premiered his piano quintet, and in 1892 his D major string quartet.^[3]

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, Basil Harwood, Christian Sinding, Leoš Janáček, Constanta Erbiceanu, Isaac Albéniz, August Max Fiedler, Walter Niemann, Johan Svendsen, Richard Franck, Felix Weingartner, Max Bruch, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis and Felix Fox among many others.

After his retirement he devoted his time to composition and an output that contains almost three hundred published works. He wrote several operas (all unperformed today) including König Manfred. During this time, Reinecke continually made concert tours to England and elsewhere. His pianoforte playing belonged to a school in which grace and neatness were characteristic, and at one time Reinecke was probably unrivalled as a Mozart player and an accompanist.^[1] At the age of 80, he recorded his playing on piano roll for the Welte-Mignon company, making him the earliest-born pianist to have his playing preserved in any format. He died, at 85, in Leipzig.

Selected works

• König Manfred, comic opera, 1867
• Ein Abenteuer Händels, operetta, 1874
• Auf hohen Befehl, comic opera, 1886
• Der Gouverneur von Tours, comic opera, 1891
• Symphony No. 1 in A major, Op. 79, 1858

Carl Reinecke (ca. 1860)

• Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. Op. opus 34, 1844
• A piano quartet in light style, Op. 272, 1904
• Piano quintet in A, Op. 83, 1866
• Cello concerto in D minor, Op. 82, 1864
• Violin concerto in G minor, Op. 141, 1876
• Harp Concerto in E minor, Op. 182 (1884)
• Flute concerto in D major, Op. 283 (1908)
• 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
• 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 violin, cello (three, in A minor, Op. 42 1847-8, D major, Op. 89 1866 and G major, Op. 238, 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)

Media

References

• Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke Page - includes a detailed worklist (German)
•  "Reinecke, Karl". New International Encyclopedia. 1905. 

External links

• Free scores by Carl Reinecke in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)
• Free scores by Carl Reinecke in the International Music Score Library Project
• Free scores by Carl Reinecke in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
• Carl Reinecke String Trio Op.249, Piano Quartet Op.272, Piano Quintet Op.83 & Cello Sonata No.1 Op.42 Soundbites and discussion of works

Recordings

• Piano Rolls (The Reproducing Piano Roll Foundation)
• The closest approach to 19th century piano interpretation - 19th Century pianist on Welte-Mignon (ARC-106, Archiphon)

This article incorporates text from an edition of the New International Encyclopedia that is in the public domain.