Ritter, Alexander

Preface

Alexander Ritter

Olafs Hochzeitsreigen
(Olaf’s Wedding Dance) Op.22 (1891-2)

First performed under the composer’s direction on 29th May 1893
at a concert of the 29th Festival of the Allgemeine Deutsche Musikverein, Munich.

(b. Narva (Russia, now Estonia), 7 June 1833, – d. Munich, 12 April 1896)

Preface
Alexander Ritter was one of those gifted musicians whose name is usually mentioned in relation to much greater men, in this case Liszt, Wagner, and Richard Strauss. After Ritter’s father died in 1841, the family moved to Dresden, and Alexander learned the violin at the Gymnasium under Franz Schubert (1808 – 78). The eleven-year-old child heard Liszt play in 1844, and went round to the artistes’ room to ask the virtuoso for one of his gloves as a memento for his sister Emilie. Ritter was a schoolmate of Hans von Bülow, and it was through the Bülow family that he was later re-introduced to Liszt, who in 1854 offered the penniless violinist a post in the Weimar Court Orchestra. This was fortuitous as it coincided with Ritter’s marriage to Franziska Wagner, a niece of the composer, and a talented actress. At the Weimar court Ritter became intimately acquainted with Liszt, Raff, Cornelius, Bronsart, and of course, von Bülow. This latter expressed warm thanks to Liszt for the characteristic generosity he showed his school friend:‘You have crowned all Ritter’s wishes – beyond his most sanguine hopes. His ambition was for nothing but a place in the Weimar orchestra. He is leaving here [i.e. Dresden] this morning with his wife, who will not displease you, I fancy. She is eminently intelligent, even interesting, and has cleansed away all odour of the footlights since her marriage.’

In such a culturally stimulating atmosphere Ritter determined to devote himself to composition, but in fact in 1856 he went to Stettin to conduct in the City Theatre where his wife was acting. After short spells in Dresden and Schwerin, both he and his wife were engaged by the theatre in Würzburg in 1863, where they would remain for the next 19 years. In attempting to shore up his depleted resources, Ritter opened a music shop in the city in 1875; in 1882 he gave the business over to an agent, as he had been appointed second Konzertmeister in the Meiningen court orchestra – directed by von Bülow. While in Meiningen Ritter met the young Richard Strauss, and the two quickly formed a lasting attachment. Ritter is credited with opening Strauss’s ears to the music of New German School…

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