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Johann Christoph Ritter (Composer, Organ, Copyist, Bach's Pupil) |
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Born: 1715 - Germany
Died: January 25, 1767 - Clausthal, Lower Saxony, Germany |
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Johann Christoph Ritter was a German organist and composer. The years and places of his years of training are unknown. He studied privately with J.S. Bach in Leipzig around 1740, at which time he made copies of Clavier-übung, I-II. In 1744 he was appointed organist of the Marktkirche in Clausthal, where he remained until the rest of his life. Clausthal is an important mining centre in the Harz mountains with a lively and independent cultural life.
Barthold Fritz, the Brunswick builder of keyboard instruments, frequently mentioned Johann Christoph Ritter in his treatise on keyboard tuning as the consignee of clavichords ‘for commission’, and Ritter’s numerous petitions to the Clausthal council regarding the disrepair of the organ show a comprehensive knowledge of and great experience in organ building. His only extant compositions are a set of 3 keyboard sonatas Drey Sonaten, denen Liebhabern des Claviers verfertiget … erster Theil (1751), dedicated to the superintendent of mines, G.P. von Bülow, and published by Haffner of Nuremberg. These works, always interesting and full of good ideas, represent a historically important stage in the development of the early pre-Classical keyboard sonata. They show at a glance the influence of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's 'Prussian' Sonatas; with careful three-part writing, their emotional centre is the slow movement, and the G minor Adagio of the third sonata is almost a commentary on the Adagio in the same key of the second 'Prussian' Sonata.
A complete copy of J.S. Bach's Clavier-übung, I-II (BWV 825-830, BWV 971, BWV 831), which he prepared around 1740, was long thought to be the only extant copy of these works dating from before J.S. Bach's death; however, it seems to depend on the printed version of 1731 and obviously contains some writing errors (see Jones). Another copy of the same works, known in J.S. Bach scholarship as p215, is also in Ritter’s hand, but it was not written until after 1755.
An unknown date, but apparently from the 18th century, was added by an unknown hand to Ritter's autograph name on one of his two copies of J.S. Bach's Clavier-übung I und II as J.S. Bach's pupil: "scripsit c. 1740 | Seb. Bachs Schüler" (scripsit c. 1740 | Seb. Bach's pupil). The year should only refer to the making of the copy, while the lessons would have to be scheduled with regard to Ritter's year of birth in the 1730's. Ritter's stay in Leipzig cannot be proven in any other way, especially through the university register. Ritter's Bach transcripts do not necessarily have to be related to the lessons, but can be made after the prints and are relics of a semi-professional music trade.
References: Koska: A-37; GND: 1026951860; Bach Digital: 00004293 |
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Works of Bach he copied [Manuscript No. in Bach Digital / Work / Performance date] |
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CH-Zz Mus Jac G 6: BWV 825-830, BWV 971, BWV 831 [1740]
D-B Mus.ms. Bach P 215: BWV 825-830, BWV 971, BWV 831, BWV 813/1 [after 1755] |
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Sources:
1. Grove Music Online (Authors: Erwin R. Jacobi/Dorothea Schröder, Accessed: June 18, 2014) Copyright © Oxford University Press 2007-2014
2. Oxford Composer Companions J.S. Bach (Editor: Malcolm Boyd, OUP, 1999)
3. fine-print footnotes in the Bach-Dokumente
4. Bernd Koska: Bachs Privatschüler in Bach-Jahrbuch 2019, English translation by Aryeh Oron (May 2020)
5. Bach Digital Website (June 2019)
6. Giorgio Pestelli: The Age of Mozart and Beethoven (Cambridge University Press, 1979; English 1984), p 26
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (June 2014, May 2020); Thomas Braatz (January 2011, June 2014) |
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Links to other Sites |
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Ritter, Johann Christoph (Bach digital)
Johann Christoph Ritter (Die Schüler Johann Sebastian Bachs) [German] |
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Bibliography |
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B. Fritz : Anweisung, wie man Claviere, Clavecins und Orgeln … gleich rein stimmen könne (Leipzig, 2/1757)
E.R. Jacobi: ‘Johann Christoph Ritter (1715-1767), ein unbekannter Schüler J.S. Bachs, und seine Abschrift (etwa 1740) der “Clavier-Übung” I/II’, BJb 1965, 43–62
E.R. Jacobi: Foreword to J.C. Ritter: Drei Sonaten für Cembalo (Leipzig, 1968)
R.D. Jones: Introduction to Johann Sebastian Bach, 1. Teil der Klavierübung, Neue Bach-Ausgabe, V/i (Kassel, 1978)
Giorgio Pestelli: The Age of Mozart and Beethoven (Cambridge University Press, 1979; English 1984), p 26
Sources 4: CH-Zz, Mus Jac G 6 (siehe auch Dok III, Anh. Nr. 18); BJ 1965, S. 43–62 (E. R. Jacobi) |
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