Biography

Joseph Reinagle, the son of a German musician resident in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, was born at Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

 in 1762. He was at first intended for the navy, but became apprentice to a jeweller in Edinburgh. Then, adopting music as a profession, he studied the French horn and trumpet

Trumpet

The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

 with his father, and soon appeared in public as a player of those instruments. Acting on medical advice, he abandoned the wind instruments, and studied the violoncello

Cello

The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

 under Schetky (who married his sister), and the violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

 under Aragoni. He succeeded so well that he was appointed leader of the Edinburgh Theatre band. After appearing as a cellist in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, he went in 1784 to Dublin, where he remained for two years. Returning to London, he took a prominent position in the chief orchestras, and was principal cello at the Salomon concerts under Haydn, who showed him much kindness. Engaged to play at the Oxford concerts, he was so well received that he settled in the city and died there in 1836.

Reinagle was a very able violoncellist, and enjoyed a wide popularity. Nathaniel Gow

Nathaniel Gow

Nathaniel Gow was the fourth son of Niel Gow, and a celebrated performer, composer and arranger of tunes, songs and other pieces on his own right. He wrote about 200 compositions including the popular "Caller Herrin'".-Early life:...

 was one of his Edinburgh pupils. He composed a good deal of music for violin, violoncello, and pianoforte, and wrote a Concise Introduction to the Art of playing the Violoncello (London, 1830), which went through four editions.

A son, Alexander Robert Reinagle, musician, born at Brighton on 11 August 1799, was from 1823 to 1853 organist of St. Peter's-in-the-East, Oxford, and died at Kidlington

Kidlington

Kidlington is a large village and civil parish between the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal, north of Oxford and southwest of Bicester.-History:...

, Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

, where he was buried on 6 April 1877. He published Psalm Tunes for the Voice and Pianoforte (circa 1830), in which appears the tune 'St. Peter,' widely used, and included in most church collections of the late nineteenth century.

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