Josef Rheinberger

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Joseph Gabriel Rheinberger (also Josef) (March 17, 1839, in Vaduz – November 25, 1901, in Munich) was a Liechtensteinian organist and composer.

When only seven years old Rheinberger was organist at Vaduz Parish Church, and his first composition was performed the following year. In 1851 he entered the Munich Conservatory, where he later became professor of piano playing, and subsequently professor of composition. When the Munich Conservatorium dissolved he was appointed répétiteur at the Court Theatre, from which he resigned in 1867.

Rheinberger married his former pupil Franziska von Hoffnaass in 1867. It is suggested by Andrew de Ternant in The Musical Times that she had a significant influence on Rheinberger's conception of art. Rheinberger was influenced by painting and literature (especially English and German).

In 1877 he was promoted to the rank of royal court conductor, a position that gave him responsibility for the music in the royal chapel. He was later accorded an honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. He occupied several important positions in the musical world, and became famous as a teacher of composition and organ. He numbered many Americans among his pupils, including the prominent figures Horatio Parker, George Whitefield Chadwick, and Henry Holden Huss.

Rheinberger was a prolific composer. His twenty organ sonatas were once declared to be

undoubtedly the most valuable addition to organ music since the time of Mendelssohn. They are characterized by a happy blending of the modern romantic spirit with masterly counterpoint and dignified organ style.

—J. Weston Nicholl,  Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1908 edition), volume 4, page 85

His religious works include twelve masses (one for double chorus, three for four voices a cappella, three for women's voices and organ, two for men's voices and one with orchestra), a requiem, and a Stabat Mater. When the present Conservatorium was founded in Munich, Rheinberger was appointed its professor of organ and composition, a post he held until his death. He was also given the title "Royal Professor".

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