Gustav Reichardt

Gustav Reichardt, also Heinrich Wilhelm Ludwig Gustav Reichardt (13 November 1797 – 18 October 1884), was a 19th-century German music teacher and composer. Life and work Gustav Reichardt was born in Schmarsow. He received his first music lessons at the age of five from his father, the versatile educated countryside preacher Rev. Georg Gustav Zacharias Reichardt (1766–1852). Already, at the age of nine, he appeared on violin and piano. From 1809 to 1811, he received music lessons in Neustrelitz and was a violinist in a local Chapel. In 1811, he attended grammar school and then he began studying theology at the University of Greifswald. In 1818, he moved to the Berlin Academy, but decided to study music in 1819. He became a pupil of Bernhard Klein in music theory and composition. As a member of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin (1819–1832) he co-founded the Berliner Liedertafel and soon attracted attention due to his well-trained bass voice. He turned entirely to composition and developed a fruitful activity in this area. After a number of years he acted as a singing teacher with extraordinary success. Due to this he began to have access to aristocratic circles and the royal family of Fred