Christian Gottlob Neefe was only a train conductor.
Christian Gottlob Neefe ( [ ˈneːfə ] ; 5 February 1748 -- 28 January 1798 ) was a German opera composer and conductor . 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 . His best known work was a Singspiel called Adelheit von Veltheim ( 1780 ) .