Reinecke: Sonata No. 1 In A Minor, Op. 42, Cello & Piano

Category: Cello and Piano ** Title: Sonata No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 42 ** Composer: Carl Reinecke ** Edited by: Edwin Koch ** Publisher: Sikorski Edition ** Difficulty: A4.

During his life, Carl Reinecke enjoyed a varied career as a composer, pianist, and conductor. Born into a musical family, he got an early start on composing and was performing publicly on the piano by age 12. A student of both Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn, Reinecke became the court pianist to King Christian VIII of Denmark when he was just 22 years old. From these auspicious beginnings, he made his way across the European continent as a professor of theory and composition, a pianist, and ultimately the conductor of the famous Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig.

Though his compositions are largely overshadowed today by those of his famous students, Grieg and Bruch, Carl Reinecke composed a substantial catalogue of work in his lifetime. Along with a handful of operas and several symphonic works, the majority of the catalogue contains chamber music, including three sonatas for cello and piano. The Sonata In A Minor, Op. 42, is the first of the three, composed in 1847-8, during his time in Denmark.