Julius Reubke

Having studied piano under Kullak at the Berlin Conservatory, Reubke also commanded respect for his command of the organ. Following a short stint on the faculty there, he moved to Weimar in 1856, where he encountered Liszt and entered his circle of pupils. By then he had already released an Organ Trio in E-flat scored for two manuals and pedals in 1851. In the years that followed he produced his chief works, the Organ Sonata in C-minor and the Piano Sonata in B-flat minor. The piano sonata employs several themes within a single movement, whereas the organ sonata, inspired by Psalm Ninety Four, develops one theme through a fantasia, an adagio, and a fugue. Both pieces remain in active performance, scholarly examination, and editorial revision. One is left to wonder what further achievements might have followed had Reubke’s life extended past the age of twenty-four.