Christian Gottlob Neefe (German: [ˈneːfə]; 5 February 1748 – 28 January 1798) was a German opera composer and conductor. He was known as one of the first teachers of Ludwig van Beethoven.
Neefe was born in Chemnitz, Saxony. He received a musical education and started to compose at the age of 12. He studied law at Leipzig University, but subsequently returned to music to become a pupil of the composer Johann Adam Hiller under whose guidance he wrote his first comic operas.
In 1776, Neefe joined the Seyler theatrical company of Abel Seyler (then) in Dresden, and inherited the position of musical director from his mentor, Hiller. He later became court organist in Bonn and was the principal piano teacher of Ludwig van Beethoven. He helped Beethoven produce some of his first works. His best known work was a Singspiel called Adelheit von Veltheim (1780). In Bonn, Neefe became prefect of the local chapter of the Illuminati, the Minervalkirche Stagira. He died in 1798 in Dessau, 8 days before his 50th birthday.
Oden von Klopstock: Serenade for piano and voice. Flensburg 1776
Variations on the Priestermarsch aus der Zauberflöte
Free scores by Christian Gottlob Neefe at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
Operone Neefe page, accessed 13 November 2009