Carl Reinecke

Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke (born June 23, 1824 in Hamburg, Germany; died March 10, 1910 in Leipzig, Germany), musician.

Reinecke was born in the (at the time) Danish town of Altona, now a part of Hamburg. The son of a teacher of music, by the age of seven he began to compose and his first public appearance as a pianist was at the age of twelve.

He undertook his first concert tour in 1843 which eventually led, in 1846, to his appointment as Court Pianist in Denmark, where he remained until 1848. Overall he wrote four concertos for his instrument (and many cadenzas for others' works), as well as concertos for violin, cello, harp and flute.

In 1860 Reinecke was appointed director of the Gewandhaus concerts in Leipzig, and professor of composition and piano at the Conservatory.

Reinecke is best known for his flute sonata "Undine", but he is well remembered as one of the most influential and versatile musicians of his time. For 35 years, until 1902, he served as a teacher. His students included Edvard Grieg, Christian Sinding, Leos Janácek, Isaac Albéniz, Johan Svendsen, Felix Weingartner, Max Bruch among many others. After his retirement he devoted his time to composition and an output that contains over three hundred published works. He wrote several operas including König Manfred.