Ferdinand Ries

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Ferdinand Ries

Ferdinand Ries (born November 28, 1784 in Bonn , † January 13, 1838 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a German composer , pianist and orchestra conductor.

biography

Bonn - Arnsberg - Munich (until 1802)

Ferdinand Ries was the eldest son of the violinist and music director from the Electorate of Cologne, Franz Anton Ries, and the brother of the violinist and composer Hubert Ries . He received his first piano lessons from his father and was instructed in the cello by Bernhard Romberg, who also belongs to the Bonn court orchestra . The dissolution of the Electoral Cologne court orchestra and the flight of Elector Maximilian Franz from Bonn in the wake of the invasion of the French revolutionary troops destroyed all hope of a later appointment at court. At the end of 1798 he went to Arnsberg to study with an organist friend of his father's; a year later he turned to Munich . There he struggled through as a copyist.

Vienna (1803 to 1805)

On December 29, 1802, the Munich composer Carl Cannabich wrote a letter of recommendation for Ries, which he addressed to Andreas Streicher in Vienna. It was apparently created for his imminent move to Vienna. There Ries became a student of Ludwig van Beethoven in March / April 1803 , who had also learned from Franz Anton Ries in his Bonn years. Together with Carl Czerny , Ries was the only piano student that Beethoven taught during these years. He also took composition lessons sporadically from Johann Georg Albrechtsberger . Ries soon also became a kind of secretary to Beethoven: He conducted correspondence with publishers, copied sheet music, ran errands and looked after Beethoven's beautiful apartment in the Pasqualati house on the Mölkerbastei, which the composer lived in for several years. On August 1st, 1804 he made his debut as a pianist in Vienna's Augarten with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37 , for which he was allowed to write his own cadenza. He spent the summers of 1803 and 1804 partly together with Beethoven in Baden near Vienna and in Döbling .

Back in Bonn - Paris (until 1808)

His apprenticeship in Vienna ended abruptly when, in November 1805, in his capacity as a citizen of the French-occupied Bonn, he was summoned to Koblenz for drafting. However, he was found unfit and stayed with his family in Bonn for over a year. Here he wrote his first piano concerto in C major, which was later published as No. 6 op. 123. In 1806 his Op. 1 appeared in print, two piano sonatas with a respectful dedication to Beethoven by the Bonn-based former horn player Nikolaus Simrock , who was also friends with the Ries family and Beethoven and who was to become Ries' main publisher for the next few years. In Bonn he also joined the Masonic lodge Les frères courageux . Since Bonn and the Rhineland had little prospects to offer an aspiring pianist and composer, Ries turned to Paris in early 1807 . But although he quickly expanded his catalog of works there (especially to include chamber and piano music, e.g. the later popular Septet Op. 25), he was not able to succeed in the capital of the French Empire and was so discouraged at times that he wanted to give up the music profession and seek a position in the civil service.

Vienna for the second - Bonn for the third (until 1810)

Ries returned to Vienna on August 27, 1808, where he again contacted Beethoven. But there was a temporary estrangement because Beethoven was wrongly of the opinion that Ries was hindering his appointment to the court of King Jêromes of Westphalia out of selfish interest. However, the dispute was soon settled. In July 1809 Ries left Vienna for the second time; this time he threatened to be drafted into the Austrian military, which mobilized all forces against the threat to Vienna from Napoleon. Again he sought refuge in his father's Bonn and found in the next year and a half the leisure to compose a whole series of larger works: his first symphony, his second piano concerto in C minor (later published as No. 4 op.115) and his (zu Lifetime unpublished) Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 24.

To Russia (until 1813)

Once again, the situation in Bonn may have offered him little future prospects; because in January 1811 he set off on an extensive concert tour with the long-term destination Russia, which took him via Kassel (where he wrote his Concerto for Two Horns WoO 19 and the Horn Sonata op.34 for the brothers Johann Gottfried and Johann Michael Schuncke ), Hamburg , Copenhagen , Stockholm to Saint Petersburg . There he met his old teacher Bernhard Romberg, with whom he played concerts in western Russia. For concert use he composed his next two piano concertos, which were published as Concerts No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 42 and No. 3 in C sharp minor, Op. 55. In 1812, however, the French and Napoleonic military gave his life an unexpected turn for the fourth time, which this time turned out to be an advantage: When Napoleon's Grande Armée was gradually advancing to Moscow in the summer, Ries fled via Stockholm, where he became the Royal Swedish Academy of Music was admitted to London.

London (until 1824)

Ries arrived in London in April 1813, and once again an old friend of his father's and a former member of the Cologne court orchestra could be useful: Johann Peter Salomon had been his father's violin teacher and had been in the British capital since 1781. He had brought Joseph Haydn to London twice in the 1790s and was one of the founders of the London Philharmonic Society in 1813 . Now he introduced Ries to the musical circles of London. In London Ries established himself as a respected piano teacher in the wealthy circles of the city. In 1814 he married Harriet, b. Mangeon, from a wealthy family. In 1815 Ries became a member of the Philharmonic Society and in the same year was elected one of its directors. He also kept in touch with Beethoven in Vienna; he served his former teacher as a mediator with London publishers and the Philharmonic Society , on whose behalf he ordered the 9th Symphony from Beethoven in 1817 and invited him to London. At Ries 'mediation, Louis Spohr visited London in 1820 and wrote there, inspired by the quality of the orchestra of the Philharmonic Society , his 2nd Symphony in D minor op. 49. Ries' own compositional work is in a sense divided into two parts. On the one hand, he composed a large part of his orchestral works during his time in London: six of his eight symphonies (and two of his five concert overtures) were written for concerts by the Philharmonic Society . On the other hand, he now increasingly wrote light fare for the piano: Variations, Fantasias, Rondos, Divertimentos, etc. a., mostly about well-known opera arias or popular folk song melodies; the production of chamber music (string quartets, violin sonatas) and more demanding piano music (sonatas) almost came to a standstill. From 1820 there were quarrels with his co-directors in the Philharmonic Society ; Ries was of the opinion that his works were not adequately taken into account in the planning of the concerts. In 1821 he resigned from his position as director and began to make friends with the idea of ​​returning to continental Europe. On May 3, 1824, he gave his farewell concert in London, for which he had written a piano concerto (A minor, op. 132), which is now his seventh instrumental concerto.

Back in the Rhineland (until 1827)

In July 1824 Ries returned to the Rhineland with his family of four and settled in Godesberg . His reputation as an instrumental composer and orchestra leader had now also consolidated in German-speaking Central Europe; His symphonies 4 to 6, composed for London, appeared in print from 1823 to 1827 by the renowned Leipzig publishers Breitkopf & Härtel and CF Peters . In 1825 he was offered the direction of the Niederrheinischen Musikfest for the first time , an opportunity which he used to perform Beethoven's 9th Symphony for the first time in (Prussian) Germany. Up to and including 1837 he directed the annual festival eight times; he composed his two oratorios for the festivals of 1829 and 1837. In terms of composition, he now turned to long-neglected genres: in Godesberg in 1825/26 he wrote five string quartets (op. 150, nos. 1-2; op. 166, no. 1 ; WoO 34 and 36). For comparison: In his entire time in London (1813–24) he had only written three works of this genre. But the tranquil Godesberg offered him too few opportunities to become active as a musician in the long run.

Residence Frankfurt and travels through Europe (until 1838)

At the beginning of April 1827, the Ries family moved to Frankfurt am Main. The existence of a renowned opera house is likely to have drawn him there, as he had already had opera plans since 1826, which he carried out in 1827/28: On October 15, 1828, his first opera Die Räuberbraut was premiered with great success in Frankfurt ; it stayed on the repertoire of several stages until the 1830s and was also performed in London (under the title The Robber's Bride ). He used an invitation to lead the Dublin Music Festival in 1831 to spend several months in London, where he composed his second opera The Sorceress (published in Germany under the title Liska or the Witch of Gyllensteen ) within a very short time ; it was launched on August 4, 1831 at the Royal Adelphi Theater in London . His third opera, Die Nacht auf dem Lebanon WoO 51, composed in 1834 and reworked several times in the following years, was never performed. In 1832/33 the Ries couple undertook a journey of several months through Italy, which took them to Venice, Milan, Rome and Naples. During the trip Ries composed his last piano concerto (G minor, op. 177), his last piano sonata (A flat major, op. 176) and his last string quartet (F minor, WoO 48, unpublished during his lifetime). In the summer of 1834 Ries was briefly discussed as director of the Aachen theater orchestra; but he declined the offer. In the winter of 1836/37 Ries stayed in Paris; He composed his last orchestral work there (the Ouverture dramatique L'Apparition WoO 61) and occasionally made a detour to London, where he managed to launch the world premiere of his new overture in a concert by the Philharmonic Society (on March 13). When he returned to Frankfurt in August 1837, he accepted the offer to succeed Johann Nepomuk Schelbles as head of the Frankfurt Cäcilienverein , a task that he was barely able to carry out because he died unexpectedly on January 13, 1838.

Ferdinand Ries is buried in the crypt (No. 45) of the Klotz family in Frankfurt's main cemetery.

plant

Ferdinand Ries left an oeuvre of around 300 works. Apart from church music in the narrower sense of the word, which he only sparsely considered (a Requiem in C minor, begun in 1815, remained unfinished and an abated little Tantum ergo was not published until 1867), Ries composed in all musical genres in use at the time. The time of origin is given in brackets.

Vocal music

Operas

  • The Robber's Bride , opera in three acts op.156 (1827/28; 1830/31)
  • Liska, or the Gyllensteen witch , opera in two acts op. 164 (1831); World premiere in London under the title The Sorceress
  • The Night in Lebanon , Romantic Opera in three acts WoO 51 (1834–38)

Oratorios

  • The victory of faith , oratorio in two sections for solos, choir and orchestra op.157 (1829)
  • The Kings in Israel , oratorio in two sections for solos, choir and orchestra, op.186 (1836/37)

Individual works for singing

  • Der Morgen , cantata for four voices and orchestra op.27 (1806)
  • Iphigenia from Aulis ; Scene for a voice and orchestra WoO 17 (1810)
  • A few more vocal works in various formations
  • Approx. 60 songs for voice and piano, as well as some songs in duets or choirs

Instrumental music

Symphonies

  • No. 1 in D major op.23 (1809)
  • No. 2 in C minor, Op. 80 (1814)
  • No. 3 in E flat major op.90 (1815)
  • No. 4 in F major, Op. 110 (1818)
  • No. 5 in D minor, Op. 112 (1812/13)
  • No. 6 in D major, Op. 146 (1822)
  • No. 7 in A minor, Op. 181 (1835)
  • E flat major WoO 30 (1822)

Concert overtures

  • Overture to Schiller's tragedy Don Carlos op.94 (1815)
  • Overture bardique [concertante] WoO 24 (1815)
  • Overture to Schiller's tragedy The Bride of Messina op.162 (1829)
  • Great Festival Overture and Victory March op.172 (1831/32)
  • Dramatic overture L'Apparition WoO 61 (1836)

Works for one or more solo instrument (s) and orchestra

  • Concert [No. 1] for violin and orchestra in E minor op. 24 (1810)
  • Concerto for two horns and orchestra in E flat major WoO 19 (1811)
  • Concert [No. 2] for pianoforte and orchestra in E flat major op. 42 (1811)
  • Concerto No. 3 for Pianoforte and Orchestra in C sharp minor op.55 (1812)
  • Concerto No. 4 for piano and orchestra in C minor, op.115 (1809)
  • Pastoral Concerto No. 5 for piano and orchestra in D major op.120 (1814)
  • Concerto No. 6 for pianoforte and orchestra in C major, op.123 (1806)
  • Farewell concert from England [No. 7] for piano and orchestra in A minor op. 132 (1823)
  • Greetings to the Rhine , Concerto No. 8 for piano and orchestra in A flat major, Op. 151 (1826)
  • Concerto No. 9 for piano and orchestra in G minor, op.177 (1832/33)
  • 6 individual pieces for piano and orchestra: Variations on Swedish national melodies in C major op. 52 (1813); Variations on Rule Britannia in E flat major op. 116 (1817); Rondeau brilliant in C major op.144 (1825); Introduction et Variations brillants in F major op. 170 (1833 or earlier); Introduction et Polonaise in E flat major op. 174 (1833); Introduction et Rondeau brilliant in E flat major WoO 54 (1835); a Concertino (WoO 88) is missing.

Chamber music

  • Octet for piano, violin, viola, clarinet, horn, bassoon, violoncello and double bass in C major op.128 (1816)
  • Septet for piano, clarinet, two horns, violin, violoncello and double bass in E flat major, op.25 (1808)
  • Sextet for piano and harp (or two pianos) with accompaniment by clarinet, horn, bassoon and double bass in G minor, Op. 142 (1814)
  • Sextet for piano, two violins, viola, violoncello and double bass in C major op.100 (1817/20)
  • Sextet for two violins, two violas and two cellos in A minor WoO 63 (1836)
  • Sextet for piano, violin, two violas, violoncello and double bass in C major WoO 76 (not dated)
  • Quintet for piano, violin, viola, violoncello and double bass in B minor, op.74 (1815)
  • Quintet for flute, violin, two violas and violoncello in B minor, op.107 (1818)
  • 6 string quintets for two violins, two violas and violoncello: C major op. 37 (1809); D minor op. 68 (1809/11); A minor op. 167 (1827); G major op. 171 (1833 or earlier); Souvenir d'Italie in E flat major op.183 (1833)
  • 6 quartets for flute, violin, viola and violoncello: C major, E minor, A major op. 145 (1814/15); D minor, G major, A minor WoO 35 (1826, 1827, 1830)
  • 3 quartets for piano, violin, viola and violoncello: F minor op. 13 (1808); E flat major op.17 (1809); E minor, Op. 129 (1820 or 1822)
  • 26 string quartets for two violins, viola and violoncello; only eleven were published during Ries's lifetime: F major, G major, F sharp minor op. 70 (No. 1–2: 1812; No. 3: 1809); B flat major, C minor, A major op.126 (1813, 1815, 1817); A minor, E minor, G minor op. 150 (No. 1–2: 1825/26; No. 3: 1823); E flat major, G minor op.166 (1825, 1831); The following remained unpublished during his lifetime: A flat major, A major, D minor WoO 1 (1798); F major WoO 6 (1803); E flat major WoO 10 (1805); E major WoO 34 (1825); A major WoO 36 (1826); C major WoO 37 (1827); F minor WoO 48 (1833); D minor WoO 71 (not dated); E minor WoO 72 (not dated); A major, C minor, G major / G minor WoO 73 (not dated); E flat major WoO 74 (not dated)
  • Trio for harp and two pianos in E flat major op.95 (1817)
  • 5 trios for piano, violin (or flute / clarinet) and violoncello: E flat major op. 2 (1807); G minor op.28 (1810); E flat major op. 63 (1815); C minor op. 143 (1826); F minor WoO 86 (1836 or earlier)
  • Approx. 50 sonatas and sonatinas for piano and one solo instrument, including 30 for piano and violin alone; Worth mentioning are a sonata for piano and horn / violoncello (F major, op. 34, 1811), the sentimental sonata for piano and flute / clarinet (E flat major, op. 169) and the three sonatas for piano and violoncello (C major op.20; A major op.21; G minor op.125)

Piano music

  • 3 sonatas and sonatinas for piano four hands: B flat major op. 47 (1816); C major op. 6 (1825); A minor op.160 (1831 or earlier)
  • 12 sonatas for piano for two hands
    1. A minor op.1.2 (1804)
    2. C major, op.1.1 (1806)
    3. B minor WoO 11 (1805)
    4. D major op.9.1 (1808)
    5. C major op.9.2 (1808)
    6. E flat major op.11.1 (1807/08)
    7. F minor op.11.2 (1807/08)
    8. Fantaisie sonata L'Infortuné in F sharp minor op.26 (1808)
    9. The Dream in E flat major op.49 (1813)
    10. A major op.114 (1823 or earlier)
    11. A flat major op.141 (1825/26)
    12. A flat major op.176 (1832)
  • 3 sonatinas for piano for two hands
    1. A minor op.45 (1816)
    2. B flat major op.5.1 (1821)
    3. F major op.5.2 (1821)
  • Numerous dances, marches, fantasies, divertimentos, variations, rondos etc. for piano for two or four hands, often using well-known opera arias or folk songs.

Posthumous reception

Ries' work was forgotten after his death. Recently, however, more and more attention has been paid to his musical work. Since 1997, several CDs of his works have been published. In musicology, too, a process of revaluation has been underway since the 1980s, which is reflected in the source publications by Cecil Hill (1977, 1982, document collection 1982) and the monographic works by Darbellay (1980), Lamkin (1981) and Schewe (1992). is occupied.

For the writing of music history, Ries also has the importance of a contemporary witness of Beethoven, which was pointed out by Mendel-Reissmann as early as 1877: “The musical world thanks his four years of intimate dealings with Beethoven for the invaluable reports about the personality of the great artist, which he shared with Dr. FG Wegeler published under the title 'Biographische Notes über Ludwig van Beethoven' in Coblenz at Bädecker [1838], and which are still the most important source for the study of Beethoven as an artist and as a person. "

In 1906, Riesgasse in Vienna- Landstrasse (3rd district) was named after him.

Literature (selection)

  • [Anonymous:] Memoir of Ferdinand Ries . In: The Harmonicon , Vol. 2, No. 15 of March 1824, pp. 33-35 (life); No. 16 of April 1824, pp. 60f. (Works) (digitized version )
  • Franz Gerhard Wegeler and Ferdinand Ries: Biographical Notes on Ludwig van Beethoven . Koblenz 1838; reprographic reprint: Hildesheim 2000 (digitized version of the first edition)
  • Collective article by Robert Eitner:  Ries, Franz . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 28, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1889, pp. 569-573.
  • Ludwig Ueberfeldt: Ferdinand Ries' youth development , phil. Dissertation Bonn 1915
  • William Eugene Sand: The Life and Works of Ferdinand Ries , Dissertation University of Wisconsin 1973
  • Cecil Hill: Ferdinand Ries. A Thematic Catalog , Armidale 1977 (= University of New England Monographs 1)
  • Etienne Darbellay: Epigonalité ou originalité? Les Sonates pour piano seul de Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838) . In: Swiss Contributions to Musicology , Series III, Vol. 4, 1980, pp. 51-101
  • Kathleen Joyce Lamkin: The Solo Piano Sonatas of Ferdinand Ries. A Stylistic Study . Diss. Northwestern University 1981
  • Ferdinand Ries: Letters and Documents . Edited by Cecil Hill, Bonn 1982 (= publications of the Bonn City Archives 27)
  • Cecil Hill: Ferdinand Ries. A Study and Addenda . University of New England 1982
  • Alan Tyson: Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838). The History of his Contribution to Beethoven Biography . In: 19th Century Music 7 (1983/84), pp. 209-221
  • Gisela Schewe: Studies on the string quartets by Ferdinand Ries . Phil. Diss. Bonn 1992, Kassel 1993 (= contributions to Rhenish music history 147)
  • Jos van der Zanden: Ferdinand Ries in Vienna. New perspectives on the notes . In: Bonner Beethoven Studies 4 (2005), pp. 191–212
  • Klaus Martin Kopitz , Rainer Cadenbach (Eds.) A. a .: Beethoven from the point of view of his contemporaries in diaries, letters, poems and memories. Volume 2: Lachner - Zmeskall. Edited by the Beethoven Research Center at the Berlin University of the Arts. Henle, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-87328-120-2 , pp. 706-712 (Ries' letters on Beethoven) .
  • Ries-Journal 1, ed. on behalf of the Ferdinand Ries Society by Bert Hagels and Jin-Ah Kim, Berlin 2011 ( ISSN  2193-4428 )
  • Über / About Ries [dt./engl.], Vol. 1, ed. by Jin-Ah Kim and Bert Hagels, Berlin 2012 (in it: Michael Schwalb, base camp compositional summit ascent. Ferdinand Ries as a self-prevented romantic )
  • Ries-Journal 2, a publication of the Ferdinand Ries Society, Bonn and Kassel 2012 [recte: 2013] ( ISBN 978-3-00-039547-5 )
  • Über / About Ries [dt./engl.], Vol. 2, ed. by Jin-Ah Kim and Bert Hagels, Berlin 2013 (in it: Interview with Howard Griffiths ; Bert Hagels, Ries' last trip and The Night in Lebanon ) ( ISBN 978-3-87676-022-3 )
  • Über / About Ries [dt./engl.], Vol. 3, ed. by Jin-Ah Kim and Bert Hagels, Berlin 2016 (in it: Interview with Wolfram Lehnert; Jin-Ah Kim, The Symphonies of Ferdinand Ries ) ( ISBN 978-3-87676-031-5 )

Documents

Letters from F. Ries are in the holdings of the Leipzig music publisher CFPeters in the Leipzig State Archives .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Jos van der Zanden (2005)
  2. ↑ See Vaterländische Blätter , Vienna, vol. 1, no. 34 of September 2, 1808, p. 278
  3. ↑ See the letter from Ferdinand and Harriet Ries to Joseph Ries of August 6, 1834; reprinted in: Ries (1982), pp. 638–640, and note 2 (Hill), p. 640.
  4. ^ Title and dates based on Cecil Hill (1977) and Cecil Hill (1982).
  5. ↑ a b audio samples
  6. ↑ a b audio samples
  7. ↑ audio samples (1-4)
  8. ↑ Audio samples (5-8)
  9. ↑ a b c d e audio samples (cpo 2011)
  10. ^ Mendel / Reissmann, Musikalisches Conversations-Lexikon, 1877
  11. ↑ Biographical notes on Ludwig van Beethoven by Wegeler & Ries. Reprint with additions and explanations by Dr. Alfred Kalischer. Published by Schuster & Löffler, Berlin & Leipzig 1906

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Ries, Ferdinand
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German pianist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH November 28, 1784
PLACE OF BIRTH Bonn
DATE OF DEATH January 13, 1838
Place of death Frankfurt am Main