Following the release of Carl Reinecke’s complete string quartets, we are now launching a new recording of his most important symphonic works. His Symphony No. 3 formed the rousing finale of his era as a conductor at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig. Reinecke never defended himself verbally against charges by his contemporaries that he was a »conventional composer«; instead, he shared the opinion of his critics, stating that he had »never had the audacity to regard himself as a trailblazing genius.« Musically, however, he puts an immediate end to all clichés. Without holding things up with a slow introduction, he has the first movement of his op. 227 storm ahead on its path, full of élan, with defiant chordal beats, driven by syncopated rhythms, and for a time offering space for lyrical secondary ideas. And he offers an extremely rich arsenal of powerful orchestral parts. His Symphony No. 1 in A major was performed six times between 1858 and 1892, which means more than any other symphony by him at the Gewandhaus. It