August Gottfried Ritter
August Gottfried Ritter (25 August 1811 – 26 August 1885) was a German romantic composer and organist.
August Gottfried Ritter
Robert Schumann · Dorotheum: Info about artwork · Public domain
- Born
- 1811. · Erfurt.
- Died
- 1885. · Magdeburg.
- Nationality
- Germany.
- Occupation
- composer, musicologist and organist.
- Languages
- German.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
August Gottfried Ritter (25 August 1811 – 26 August 1885) was a German romantic composer and organist.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for August Gottfried Ritter. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
not yet certified
- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
Authority files
gnd · 5232607-X · wikidata · Q322802 · wikipedia · August Gottfried Ritter
In this article
Biography
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. In his critical writings, Ritter condemned the Renaissance organ composers referred to as the "Colorists" for overindulging in ornamentation.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1885
August Gottfried Ritter died at Magdeburg.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Erfurt.
Birth place
Magdeburg.
Death place
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
Brief von Robert Schumann an August Ritter, Leipzig, 3. 11. 1839, "Hrn. August Ritter Wolgeboren"
Robert Schumann · Dorotheum: Info about artwork
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
42,438 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- August Eberhard MüllerPerson
- August EnnaPerson
- August Ferdinand AnackerPerson
- August FreyerPerson
- August HalmPerson
- August HarderPerson
- August Heinrich Hoffmann von FallerslebenPerson
- August HögnPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by August Gottfried Ritter?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.