Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke (June 23, 1824 ? March 10, 1910) was a German Composer, conductor, and pianist. Reinecke was born in Altona, which was part of Denmark at his time. The son of a teacher of music with whom he studied, Johann Peter Rudolph Reinecke, 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 which eventually led, in 1846, to his appointment as Court Pianist for Christian VIII in Copenhagen. There he remained until 1848. 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 1851 he 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 ([1]).
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 1902. His students included Edvard Grieg, Basil Harwood, Christian Sinding, Leo? Janáček, Isaac Albéniz, Johan Svendsen, Richard Franck, Felix Weingartner, Max Bruch 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. Reinecke died, at 85, in Leipzig.
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