Eduard Ritz

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Eduard Ritz (born October 17, 1802 in Berlin ; † January 23, 1832 ) was a German violinist .

Life and accomplishments

Eduard Ritz was born as the son of the chamber musician Johann Friedrich Ritz (born June 12, 1767 in Lübben (Spreewald) , † December 25, 1828 in Berlin). He received his training from his father and also in the environment of Carl Friedrich Zelter - i.e. at the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin and the Berlin Academy of Arts . Even before 1819 he was a close friend and the first violin teacher of the young Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (born 1809); He also taught his younger brothers, of whom Julius Rietz (born 1812) was to have the most successful career: through Eduard, he became acquainted with Felix Mendelssohn, whom he - especially after the early death of his brother - gave him essential impulses for his own artistic work as a conductor and composer .

Mendelssohn's early violin concerto in D minor (around 1821/22) is dedicated to Eduard Ritz and was probably also performed by him for the first time (evidence of contemporary performances, however, has not survived). Mendelssohn composed his famous Octet for String Instruments in E flat major, Op. 20 , for Ritz in 1825 . His first string quintet in A major op.18 , completed in 1826, is also dedicated to Ritz and was decisively reworked in 1832 under the impression of the death of his friend: the order of the internal movements was rearranged and Mendelssohn rejected one movement (a minuet in f sharp Minor ), which he replaced with a new one ( Intermezzo : Andante sostenuto in F major ): composed in memory of his friend who died too early.

In 1826, Ritz and the Philharmonic Society founded an instrumental ensemble for the Berliner Sing-Akademie , headed by Carl Friedrich Zelter , which existed until 1872 (after the orchestra was dissolved, most of the musicians joined the Berliner Dilettanten -Orchester-Verein , founded in 1866 , from which later the orchestra Berliner Musikfreunde eV, which still exists today, emerged ). He directed the ensemble until his early death and was also involved as concertmaster in Mendelssohn's epoch-making revival of Johann Sebastian Bach's St. Matthew Passion on March 11, 1829 - the first performance of the oratorio since the Thomas Cantor's death . The performance of the Philharmonic Society , strengthened on this occasion by some artists from the court orchestra , was apparently so excellent that Zelter once again made use of this enthusiastic orchestra for the repetitions of the Passion Music on March 21 and April 17, 1829.

Soon after his death, his brother Julius changed the spelling of the family name to Rietz .

proof

  1. ^ Nekrolog in: Allgemeine Musical Zeitung 34 (1832), p. 34
  2. ↑ Eduard is mentioned in the ADB article on Julius Rietz, but with the wrong year of death: Moriz Fürstenau:  Rietz, Julius . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 28, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1889, pp. 603-606.
  3. ↑ On the history of the Berlin Philharmonic Society : Archive link ( Memento from July 17, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ^ The Orchestra Berliner Musikfreunde eV : [1]
personal data
SURNAME Ritz, Eduard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German violinist
DATE OF BIRTH October 17, 1802
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH January 23, 1832