Ferdinand Ries (d. 1838) was born at Bonn, the son of Franz Ries the violinist, and studied at Munich with Winter and at Vienna with Beethoven and Albrechtsberger. After four years of destitution at Paris and Vienna, he won success as a player at Cassel, Stockholm, St. Petersburg and (from 1813) London, where he remained till 1824 in favor as player, composer and teacher. Retiring then to his home near Bonn and from 1830 living at Frankfort, he conducted eight of the Lower Rhine Festivals (from 1825), in 1834-6 was town-musician at Aix-la-Chapelle, and had just succeeded Schelble as head of the Cäcilienverein at Frankfort when he died. He was noted for a lifelong devotion to Beethoven, bearing with his violent peculiarities, laboring assiduously to make his works known and aiming to imitate his style. His genius was not powerful enough to make him more than a worthy disciple. Among his over 200 works are 9 concertos, about 50 able sonatas, many shorter pieces, 6 excellent symphonies, 4 overtures, many chamber works, 3 operas, including Die Räuberbraut (1828), and 2 oratorios. With Wegeler he prepared invaluable reminiscences of Beethoven (1838).
Friedrich Kalkbrenner (d. 1849) was born in 1788, the son of Christian Kalkbrenner (d. 1806), an able Jewish musician, who from 1799 was chorus-*master at the Paris Opéra. He was taught by Adam and Catel, and at Vienna by Clementi and Albrechtsberger. In l805-6 he toured in Germany and France with success, and settled at Paris as a leading teacher, being helpfully influenced by Dussek. From 1814 he worked with similar success in London, where from 1818 he was much interested in Logier's 'chiroplast.' After a German tour he returned to Paris in 1824, became one of the firm of Pleyel & Cie. and resumed his place as a teacher. His technique was exceedingly perfect, including special dexterity with the left hand, with the wrist in octave-playing and with the pedals, and his tone was broad and noble. His conceit was excessive, both as to his playing and his teaching, as was shown in his offer to instruct Chopin in 1831. He wrote fluent concertos, sonatas, chamber works and small pieces, including excellent études; also a method (1830) and a work on harmony (1849).
Ignaz Moscheles (d. 1870) was a Bohemian, born in 1794 of Jewish parents. He was early trained at Prague by Dionys Weber, and from 1808 at Vienna by Salieri and Albrechtsberger. He was intimate with Beethoven and competed with Meyerbeer and Hummel. From about 1815 his place as a foremost concert-pianist was fully won, and he toured brilliantly in Germany, France and Holland. From 1822 he was mostly in London, where he had increasing renown. In 1824 he gave lessons to Mendelssohn at Berlin and later was intimate with him at London. In 1846 he joined Mendelssohn in the Leipsic conservatory, where he long continued one of the ablest teachers. His life and influence therefore reached over the whole of the half-century from 1815. As a player he was precise, rhythmically exact, agile and vigorous, with great capacity for varied interpretation and original improvising. His predilection for strong construction on conservative lines kept him from fully appreciating Chopin. His many works, all for the piano solo or with other instruments, including 7 concertos, several sonatas and fine studies, have nobility and graceful sentiment, united with sound scholarship. Altogether, he occupies a larger historic place than is sometimes realized.
