A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Rietz, Eduard

by Paul David

RIETZ (originally Ritz^[1]) Eduard, the elder brother of Julius Rietz, an excellent violinist, was born at Berlin in 1801. He studied first under his father, a member of the royal band, and afterwards for some time under Rode. He died too young to acquire a more than local reputation, but his name will always be remembered in connection with Mendelssohn, who had the highest possible opinion of his powers as an executant,^[2] and who counted him amongst his dearest and nearest friends. It was for Ritz that he wrote the Octet, which is dedicated to him, as well as the Sonata for PF. and Violin, op. 4. For some years Rietz was a member of the royal band, but as his health failed him in 1824 he had to quit his appointment and even to give up playing. He founded and conducted an orchestral society at Berlin, with considerable success—but continued to sink, and died of consumption Jan. 23, 1832. Mendelssohn's earlier letters teem with affectionate references to him, and the news of his death, which he received at Paris on his birthday, affected him deeply.^[3] The Andante in Mendelssohn's String Quintet, op. 18, was composed at Paris 'in memory of E. Ritz,' and is dated on the autograph 'Jan. 23, 1832,' and entitled 'Nachruf.'

[ P. D. ]

1. Uniformly so spelt by Mendelssohn.
2. 'I long earnestly,' says he, in a letter from Borne, 'for his violin and his depth of feeling; they come vividly before my mind when I see his beloved neat handwriting.'
3. Mendelssohn's Letters from Italy and Switzerland, English Translation, p. 327.