Anton Reicha was born in Prague on February 26,1770. Anton's father died when he was just a year old. His mother had limited means and was unable to provide for his education. As a boy, Anton was very precocious and his quest for knowledge drove him to leave his mother and journey first to his grandfather's and then to his uncle's in Bavaria. Anton's uncle Joseph was a cellist, conductor and composer. Joseph and his French wife, having no children of their own, adopted their nephew and raised him in a house that spoke French, German and Czech. Here he began to study violin, piano and flute.
In 1778 Joseph was appointed as conductor to the orchestra of Maximilian of Austria in Bonn, Germany. Anton followed his uncle to Bonn and took a position in his orchestra as second flute. With the daily exposure to the works of the great masters, Anton became interested in composition. Uncle Jospeh refused to formally teach him theory and composition and discouraged him. Anton secretly began to study the great masters on his own. He also discussed composition with a young viola player in the orchestra by the name of Beethoven.
During his career he wored in Hamburg, Paris and Vienna where he renewed his friendship with Beethoven and met and befriended Haydn, Albrechtsberger, Salieri and others. He wrote 3 operas, symphonies , oratorios and a requiem. Reicha's reputation rests on his chamber music and on his theoretical works. Reicha wrote: 24 woodwind quintets, 6 quintets and 20 quartets for strings, a quintet for clarinet and strings and many other quartets, trios and duets for mixed instruments. These six trios are a part of 24 trios written for Horn. He published 3 major theory and composition books in Paris in 1814, 1818 and 1834. Reicha married a Parisian and became a French citizen in 1829. In 1835 he was elected as head of the Legion of Honour Institute. He died in Paris of pneumonia in 1836 at the age of 66.
