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Abstract
Josef Gabriel Rheinberger established himself as Munich's foremost pedagogue and composer in the late nineteenth century. Acclaimed initially for his ability as an organist, Rheinberger later achieved popular success as a composer of orchestral music and choral music, and attained appointments as a professor at the Munich Conservatory and as Hofkapellmeister for Ludwig II of Bavaria. During his life, a nineteenth-century Palestrina style emerged throughout Germany, and eventually manifested itself in the Catholic south as a reform movement for the purification of sacred music. This resulted in the foundation of the Allegemeine Cäcilien-Verein (General Cecilian Society) by Franz Xavier Witt in 1869. The Cecilian movement promoted the supremacy of plainchant and the use of a cappella music appropriate for liturgy.
This study explores the relationship between Rheinberger and the Regensburg Cecilian movement by examining the following aspects: (1) the history of the nineteenth-century German Palestrina revival and the discovery of a Palestrina style; (2) Rheinberger's life, musical training and influences, as well as his professional activities and successes; (3) Rheinberger's compositional style as represented in his four a cappella masses for mixed choir; and (4) the musical writings of Rheinberger's friend and mentor, Karl Emit von Schafhäutl. Appendices are included listing the sacred works Rheinberger programmed for liturgical use as Hofkapellmeister.
