Carl Reinecke (1824-1910) was a German composer, music director, performer, and teacher during the Romantic era. He was born in Hamburg, which was then controlled by Denmark. His father, a music teacher, taught him lessons from a young age on violin and then piano. Reinecke demonstrated strong musical talent early on; he began composing from the age of seven and gave his first public performance at twelve. Early in his adulthood, he participated in several concert tours throughout Denmark, Sweden, and Germany and briefly served as court pianist to Christian VIII in Copenhagen. 

In 1851, Reinecke accepted a professorship at the conservatory in Cologne, where he worked until he was offered the position of music director of the Konzertgesellschaft in Barmen, Germany in 1854. He rose in prominence over the next several years as a music director, soon becoming the music director at Breslau University in 1859, and then the distinguished Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig in 1860. Reinecke served as music director there for thirty-five years, premiering important new works of the time. Simultaneously, he took on a teaching position at the Leipzig Conservatory. He was an important and influential educator, teaching prominent future composers and musicians such as Edvard Grieg, Leoš Janáček, Max Bruch, and Arthur Sullivan, among others.

Reinecke also made significant compositional contributions to the Romantic repertoire. He wrote three symphonies and several operas, including his most famous, König Manfred (1866). He also wrote several concertos, including four for piano, his main instrument, and one each for violin, cello, harp, and flute. However, most of his works were for chamber ensembles, including string quartet, piano quartet and quintet, and wind sextet and octet; he also wrote numerous sonatas and trios for a range of instruments. One of his most enduring pieces is Sonata Undine for flute, which has become one of the most important Romantic-era works in the flute repertoire. 

After Reinecke’s retirement from the orchestra in 1895 and from the conservatory in 1902, he continued to compose and tour as a pianist. He was known for being one of the pre-eminent scholars and performers of Mozart’s music. He died in 1910 after a storied career; though many of his compositions are no longer performed today, he remains considered one of the most influential musicians of his time.