Page:Pratt - The history of music (1907).djvu/538



of the conservatory there. He was an accomplished conductor and a worthy conservative composer. His works included 3 symphonies, notably that in Eb, several good overtures, such as the Lustspielouvertüre, 'cello, violin clarinet and piano-concertos, violin, flute and piano-sonatas, a great amount of church and other choral music, and songs, besides 4 operas (1833-59). He did important work as the editor of standard editions of classical masters, including Mendelssohn. He was uncompromising in his opposition to radical tendencies, making many enemies in consequence.

Considerably younger than the above are two more—

Karl Reinecke (d. 1910), a specially interesting figure in the group, was born of musical parentage at Altona in 1824, and developed into a piano-virtuoso, appearing in Denmark and Sweden in 1843. After study with Mendelssohn and Schumann at Leipsic and further tours, in 1846-8 he was court-pianist at Copenhagen. Thence he went to Paris, in 1851-4 taught in the Cologne conservatory, in 1854-9 was town-musician at Barmen, and in 1859-60 conductor at Breslau. In 1860 he came to the Gewandhaus and the conservatory at Leipsic, where he has filled out almost a half-century of fruitful teaching and composing, with frequent tours as a favorite classical pianist. In 1895 he gave up his post as conductor, and in 1897 became head of the conservatory. His régime as conductor was marked by a somewhat rigid adherence to the standards of Mendelssohn. His over 250 works cover a wide range—3 symphonies, 9 concert-overtures, incidental music to Schiller's 'William Tell,' a string-serenade, concertos for violin, 'cello, harp and piano (4), a quintet and a quartet with piano, 4 string-quartets and 7 trios, 4 violin-sonatas, 3 'cello-sonatas, many piano-sonatas and sonatinas, characteristic pieces, studies, etc., 6 operas and operettas (from 1867), the oratorio Belsazar, many cantatas, 2 masses, and very many part-songs and songs. His style is marked by sound learning and fresh versatility, and furnishes an interesting continuation into the later period of Mendelssohn's type of romanticism.

Salomon Jadassohn (d. 1902), born in 1831 and first trained at Breslau, studied from 1848 at Leipsic under Hauptmann and one year at Weimar under Liszt, and taught at Leipsic from 1852. After short terms as conductor of the Psalterion chorus and the Euterpe concerts, from 1871 he was professor of composition and instrumentation in the conservatory, where he became renowned as teacher and composer. Besides able text-books (1883-95), he wrote some 130 strong and often brilliant works, including 4 symphonies, 4 serenades, 2 overtures, a piano-concerto, much chamber music, a psalm and several choral ballades, motets, duets, songs and piano-pieces, some of which evince extraordinary contrapuntal facility.