Named for the North German organist Johann Adam Reincken (1623–1722), a central figure of Hamburg’s musical life who lived to a legendary age of 99 years. A pupil of Scheidemann, he was appointed organist at the Katherinenkirche in Hamburg in 1663. In 1678 he was co-founder of Hamburg’s famous opera. Reincken was one of the principal representatives of the art of playing the organ in North Germany, although his style was sometimes too vituoistic. J. S. Bach {see planet
(1814)} went to Hamburg several times to hear the master play. In addition to his Hortus musicus, there survives his famous Prelude and Fugue in G minor, a piece that every organist likes to play, because of its extremely brilliant and fluent style. (M 31026) _ _.
