Alexander Ritter

Alexander Ritter
Background information
Born	(1833-06-07)7 June 1833 Narva, Estonia
Died	12 April 1896(1896-04-12) (aged 62)
Genres	classical
Occupation(s)	composer and violinist
Instrument	violin

Alexander Sascha Ritter (7 June 1833 – 12 April 1896) was a German composer and violinist. He wrote two operas - Der faule Hans and Wem die Krone?, a few songs, a symphonic waltz and two symphonic fantasias. Ritter died in Munich.

Life and career

He was born in Narva, Estonia. He studied in Frankfurt am Main under Joachim Raff. In 1854 he married Wagner's niece Franziska (1829–1895). They had a daughter Hertha, who in 1902 became the wife of the Austrian composer Siegmund von Hausegger.

Ritter had a strong influence on Richard Strauss. He persuaded him to abandon the conservative style of his youth, and begin writing tone poems; he also introduced Strauss to the essays of Richard Wagner and the writings of Schopenhauer. He encouraged Strauss to write his first opera Guntram, but was deeply disappointed at the final version of the libretto, which Ritter took to be a rejection of Schopenhauerian-Christian ideals.

See also

• Wagner family tree

External links

• Free scores by Alexander Ritter at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
• Literature by and about Alexander Ritter in the German National Library catalogue
• Grande Musica - Alexander Ritter
• Libretti of some of his songs
• Information about Wem die Krone?