Josef Rheinberger, Kyrie from Mass in E-Flat

Josef Rheinberger (1839-1901) is known primarily for his 20 organ sonatas. His writings extend well beyond organ works, however, and include two symphonies, concertos, chamber music, two operas plus other dramatic works, masses, cantatas, motets, and Lieder. Most of these works are rarely heard in spite of a general consensus that he was a fine composer.

A certain amount of good public relations and good luck puts a composer into the musical canon—the body of music that is widely performed and studied in future generations. Rheinberger had the bad luck perhaps to be writing at a very fruitful period of history, the peak of the Romantic era when many composers were grabbing the limelight with highly innovative works. Rheinberger was devoting his energies primarily to teaching at the Munich Conservatory. In that capacity, he taught quite a few students who would have prominent careers.

His own style was rooted in works of Bach, Classicism, and early Romanticism. In the War of the Romantics, a topic we discuss more thoroughly in our courses, he would have been aligned with Brahms and the traditionalists as opposed to Liszt and Wagner. This conservatism and his academic bent no doubt contributed to his lower profile. He gets credit for giving his students a solid musical education that included traditional techniques and the innovative styles of the time, enabling them to pursue any path they chose.