CARL HEINRICH CARSTEN

REINECKE (1824—1910)  , German composer and pianist, was born at Altona on the 23rd of June 1824; his father, Peter Reinecke (who was also his teacher), being an accomplished musician . At the age of eleven he made his first appearance as a pianist, and when scarcely eighteen he went on a successful tour through Denmark and Sweden . After a stay in Leipzig, where he studied under Mendelssohn and under Schumann, Reinecke went on tour with Konigslow and Wasielewski, Schumann's biographer, in North Germany and Denmark . From 1846 to 1848 Reinecke was court pianist to Christian VIII. of Denmark . After resigning this post he went first to Paris, and next to Cologne, as professor in the Conservatorium . From 1854 to 1859 he was music director at Barmen, in the latter year filling this post at Breslau University;in 186o he became conductor of the famous Leipzig Gewandhaus, a post which (together with that of professor at the Conserva torium) he held with honour and distinction for thirty-five years . He finally retired into private life in 1902 and died in March 1910 . During this time Reinecke continually made concert tours to England and elsewhere . His pianoforte playing belonged to a school now almost extinct . Grace and neatness were its characteristics, and at one time Reinecke was probably unrivalled as a Mozart player and an accompanist . His grand opera Konig Manfred, and the comic opera Auf hohen Befehl, were at one time frequently played in Germany; and his cantata Hakon fart is melodiously beautiful, as are many of his songs; while his Friedensfeier overture was once quite hackneyed . By far his most valuable works are those written for educational purposes .

His sonatinas, his "

Kindergarten " and much that he has ably edited will keep his name alive .