Antonin Rejcha (26.2.1770 Prague – 28.5.1836 Paris)

Czech composer and pedagogue; in France known as Antoine Reicha. Son of a street musician from Prague who died soon after the child's birth. In his age of 11 he ran away from home to his grandfather in Klatovy. In the age of 15 his uncle Josef Rejcha took charge of him. Thanks to that, young Antonin improved his flute, violin and piano and learned languages (uncles's wife was French). In 1785 he got in the Prince Elector's orchestra in Bonn where he met young Beethoven. They took university lessons together. Later he spent several fruitful years with Beethoven and Haydn in Vienna. Since 1808 he permanently settled in Paris. Besides his compositor's career, he was also a popular teacher; amongst his students were H. Berlioz, Ch. Gounod, C. Franck and F. Liszt.

Works:

• piano compositions (36 fugues, 10 sonatas)
• chamber music (trios for various instrument combinations, 20 string quartets, 3 string quintets, 5 quintets for solo instrument and string quartet, 24 wood-wind quintets, wood-wind octet, octet for 4 wood-wind instruments and string quartet)
• orchestral music (2 symphonies, ouvertures, concerts for piano and orchestra, for glass harmonica and orchestra, for clarinet and orchestra)
• vocal compositions (choirs, cantatas, masses, Te Deum, Requiem, Der Neue Psam)
• operas (8 written, 3 of which never realized)

Sources:

Wikipedia
Mala encyklopedie hudby (book by dr. Jar. Smolka; &kolektiv, Supraphon 1983)
CD booklet Antonin Rejcha: Piano Trios Op. 101 No 1-3, Kubelik Trio, GZ Lodenice 1998)

Sample (MP3):
Piano Trio E flat Major Op.101 No.1 I.Lento. Allegro assai (I.Lento. Allegro assai; Kubelik's Trio: Shizuka Ishikawa violin, Karel Fiala violoncello, Kvita Bilynska piano; rec. at Studio AMU Prague 1998)