Reubke, Adolf

Reubke, Adolf , German organ builder; b. Halberstadt, Dec. 6, 1805; d. Hausneindorf, near Quedlinburg, March 3, 1875. He founded his firm in Hausneindorf, and built organs for various German cities, including those at Magdeburg Cathedral and at the Leipzig Gewandhaus. His son Emil Reubke (1836–85) became a partner in 1860 and eventually inherited the firm. Another son, (Friedrich) Julius Reubke (b. Hausneindorf, March 23, 1834; d. Pillnitz, near Dresden, June 3, 1858), was a pianist, organist, and composer; he studied with Hermann Bonicke in Quedlinburg, with T. Kullak (piano) and A.B. Marx (composition) at the Berlin Cons., and with Liszt in Weimar (1856). He wrote 2 outstanding sonatas, 1 for piano and 1 for organ (both 1857). Still another son, Otto Reubke (b. Hausneindorf, Nov. 2, 1842; d. Halle, May 18, 1913), was a pianist, conductor, and composer; studied organ with A.G. Ritter in Magdeburg, piano with Bülow and composition with A.B. Marx and Weitzmann at the Berlin Cons., and composition with Hauptmann in Leipzig (1864–67). He subsequently settled in Halle as a pianist, organist, and conductor. He was named Robert Franz’s assistant at the Univ. (1877), founded his own choral society (1876), and then served as conductor of the Robert Franz Singakademie (1867–1911). He was named music director (1892) and prof. (1895) at the Univ. Among his works are piano pieces and songs.

Bibliography

D. Chorzempa, J. R.: Life and Works (diss., Univ. of Minn., 1971).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire