Josef Reicha

Josef Reicha(Rejcha) (12 February 1752 – 5 March 1795) was a Czechcellist,composerandconductor.He was the uncle of composer andmusic theoristAnton Reicha.

Josef Reicha was born inChudenice.In 1761 he moved to Prague, where he was taughtcelloby Franz Joseph Werner. In 1771 Reicha became first cellist in the orchestra of Prince (Fürst)Kraft Ernst von Oettingen-Wallerstein.Together with the famousviolinistAnton Janitsch, who also played in the orchestra, Reicha toured several European cities during the late 1770s and visitedLeopold Mozartin Salzburg in 1778.In his letters toWolfgang Amadeus,Leopold praised Reicha's cello playing and compared the style of one of his cello concerts to those by Wolfgang Amadeus.

Reicha adopted his nephewAntonin 1780 (Josef married in 1779, but the marriage produced no children)and subsequently taught him the violin and thepiano.In 1785 Josef was made director of the orchestra in Bonn byMaximilian Francis of Austria, Elector of Cologne;the whole family moved to Bonn.Anton became a member of the court orchestra through his uncle. Other members included the youngBeethoven,who played theviolaand theorgan,andNikolaus Simrock,founder of the Simrock music publishing firm, who played thehornin the orchestra. Simrock would later publish Josef's works. In 1789 Josef became music director of the new theatre,Bonner Nationaltheater.His musical career was cut short in 1791, when he contractedgout.He died four years later in Bonn.

Style

Reicha wrote music fororchestraandchamber ensemblesof different kinds. His works includesymphonies,various concertos including eleven for cello, twelvepartitasforwind instrumentsand miscellaneous other works. Most of Reicha's compositions were completed inWallerstein,such ashis flute concerto,before his Bonn years. His writing for strings and cello particularly is markedly virtuosic, reflecting his own skill. Music scholarLudwig Schiedermairin 'Der junge Beethoven' (Leipzig, 1925) gave specific examples taken from Reicha's partitas and symphonies and has proven that these works influenced Beethoven. Other important admirers of Reicha included Leopold Mozart andMichael Haydn.

Further reading

• Claus Reinländer (2004). "Reicha [Rejcha], (Matěj) Josef".Grove Music Online(8th ed.).Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.23094.ISBN978-1-56159-263-0.(subscription required)

External links

• Free scores by Josef Reichaat theInternational Music Score Library Project(IMSLP)