View source for August Gottfried Ritter

{{Short description|German composer (1811–1885)}}

[[File:August Gottfried Ritter.jpg|thumb|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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Organs |url=http://www.domorgel-magdeburg.de/organs.html |access-date=2022-11-13 |website=www.domorgel-magdeburg.de}}</ref>

In his critical writings, Ritter condemned the [[Renaissance]] organ composers referred to as the "[[Colorists (music)|Colorists]]" for overindulging in [[Ornament (music)|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 [[Symphony No. 7 (Beethoven)|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==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.uni-magdeburg.de/mbl/Biografien/1591.htm Biography (German)]
*{{IMSLP|id=Ritter, August Gottfried}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritter, August Gottfried}}
[[Category:1811 births]]
[[Category:1885 deaths]]
[[Category:German Romantic composers]]
[[Category:German classical organists]]
[[Category:German cathedral organists]]
[[Category:19th-century German classical composers]]
[[Category:German male classical composers]]
[[Category:19th-century German male musicians]]
[[Category:German male classical organists]]
[[Category:19th-century German organists]]
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{{Germany-classical-musician-stub}}
{{Organist-stub}}