August Gottfried Ritter
August Gottfried Ritter (25 August 1811 – 26 August 1885) was a German romantic composer and organist.
Biography
Co-creator, together with
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, of the first example of Romantic Organ Sonata (the first one was composed in 1845); he moved in 1847 from being organist in Merseburg cathedral to become organist in Magdeburg Cathedral. He also was "Royal-Prussian organ auditor". Ritter organized to build a new main organ in Magdeburg Cathedral and designed the stoplist. The organ with four manuals, mechanical key action and 81 stops was built by Adolf Reubke in 1856 to 1861.[1]
In his critical writings, Ritter condemned the
Colorists" for overindulging in ornamentation
.
Compositions
- Toccata in D minor for organ
- Choral Preludes for organ (opp. 7, 8 & 9)
- First Organ Sonata in D minor, op. 11 (ca. 1845)
- Second Organ Sonata in E minor, op. 19 (ca. 1850)
- Third Organ Sonata in A minor, op. 23, dedicated to Franz Liszt (ca. 1855)
- Fourth Organ Sonata in A major, op. 31 (ca. 1855)
- Andante in A minor, Op. 26 (arrangement of second movement from Beethoven's Seventh Symphony)
- Preludes, postludes etc.
- XXXII der gebräuchlichsten Choräle : mit Vor- und Zwischenspielen tacktgemäß verbunden : und mit Bezeichnung der Register und der Applicaturen versehen für die ersten Versuche im gottesdienstlichen Orgelspiele (32 Chorale-preludes)
- Sinfonie concertante for 2 bassoons and orchestra
- Variations on "Heil dir im Siegerkranz" for organ
- Second Piano Sonata, op. 21
Publications
- Zur Geschichte des Orgelspieles, vornehmlich des deutschen, im 14. bis zum Anfang des 18. Jahrhunderts (The History of Organ Playing from 14th to the 18th Centuries, in 2 volumes) (1884)
- Kunst des Orgelspiels (The Art of Organ Playing), Op. 15
References
External links
- Biography (German)
- Free scores by August Gottfried Ritter at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
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