Reubke received his early musical training from Hermann Bonicke in Quedlinburg. Among other works, he produced his =Trio in E flat= during this time. He entered the Berlin Conservatory in 1851, where he studied piano with Kullak and composition with Bernhard Marx. He was considered the school's most gifted student and composed works fluently written in the keyboard style of Chopin during this time. After a short period of teaching piano at the conservatory, he went to Weimar to study with Liszt, where he became one of Liszt's favorite pupils. His two most important works, written in 1857, were the Piano Sonata in B flat minor and the Organ Sonata in C minor. Both works were admired by members of the Weimar circle, and Liszt regarded Reubke as a composer of promise. He moved to Dresden in 1857 and joined the Dresden Tonkunstlerverein, participating as a pianist in their concerts. He died in June of that year. His organ sonata, an instrumental setting of a psalm text, is considered one of the truest manifestations of Romantic thought, and it represents one of the high points of nineteenth century organ literature. His early death left his considerable promise unfulfilled.