Reinthaler, Carl (Martin) 10/13/1822 - 06/13/1896

German composer, conductor and director of the cathedral choir in Bremen.


Reinthaler was the son Carl Christian Reinthaler, a theologian and head of the Martinsstift. He attended the royal gymnasium in Erfurt. His first musical education came at the hands of the Magdeburg cathedral organist August Gottfried Ritter. In 1841 he began studying theology and then music under Adolf Bernhard Marx in Berlin. From 1844 to 1849 he led the Sing-Akademie in Berlin. Supported by a royal scholarship he studied in Paris and Rome from 1849 to 1853. In 1853 he received a position at the conservatory in Cologne, where he completed his first oratorio, "Jephta und seine Tochter."


From 1857 to 1893 he was the municipal music director, cathedral organist and director of the Singakademie das musikalische Leben, a music academy in Bremen. He successfully staged important orchestral works. In 1868 he took part in work on a complete version of Johannes Brahms’ Deutsche Requiem.


In 1859 he became the songmaster of the men’s singing association, Liedertafel. In 1868 he took up the post of vice-president of the Bremen artist’s association. In 1872 he took over the Bremen cathedral choir. The influence of his role model, Moritz Hauptmann, is apparent in his spiritual compositions, though he also developed his own musical language.