Antonín Rejcha (1770-1836)
- Sinfonia in Es-Dur, Op.41 (c.1799)
Performers: Die Prager Virtuosen; Oldrich Vlcek (conductor)
Further info: Die Prager Virtuosen
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Bohemian composer. Nephew and pupil of Joseph Rejcha (1752-1795), in
1785 the family moved to Bonn, where he became a member of the
Hofkapelle of Max Franz, Elector of Cologne, playing violin and second
flute in the court orchestra under his uncle's direction. The young
Beethoven entered the Hofkapelle as violist and organist in 1789 and he
befriended him. From about 1785 he studied composition secretly, against
his uncle's wishes, composing and conducting his first symphony in 1787
and entering the University of Bonn in 1789, where he studied and
performed until 1794, when Bonn was attacked and captured by the French.
He managed to escape to Hamburg. In 1799 he moved to Paris, hoping to
achieve success as an opera composer but in 1801 he moved on to Vienna.
Once there, he studied with Antonio Salieri and Johann Georg
Albrechtsberger. Reicha's life and career in Vienna were interrupted by
Napoleon's November 1805 occupation of the city by French troops. Then
Reicha decided to move back to Paris. He was soon teaching composition
privately, future prolific composer George Onslow being one of his
pupils by 1808. This time three of his many operas were produced, but
they all failed; yet his fame as theorist and teacher increased
steadily, and by 1817 most of his pupils became professors at the
Conservatoire de Paris. The following year, Reicha himself was appointed
professor of counterpoint and fugue at the Conservatoire with the
support of Louis XVIII. In 1818 he married Virginie Enaust, who bore him
two daughters. Reicha stayed in Paris for the rest of his life. He
became a naturalized citizen of his adopted country in 1829 and
Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur in 1835. That same year, he succeeded
François-Adrien Boieldieu at the Académie française. Though a prolific
composer, he was of particular importance as a theorist and teacher in
early 19th-century Paris.
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