Ritter, Georg Wenzel

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Ritter, Georg Wenzel

Ritter, Georg Wenzel , German bassoonist and composer, uncle of Peter Ritter; b. Mannheim, April 7, 1748; d. Berlin, June 16, 1808. He joined the Mannheim Court Orch. when he was 16. After it removed to Munich in 1778, he served as 2nd bassoonist in the orch. there until 1788 when he joined the Berlin Court Orch. Ritter was highly regarded as a bassoon virtuoso. Mozart met him in 1777 and wrote the bassoon part of his Sinfonia concertante, K.Anh. 9; 297B for Ritter. Among Ritter’s own works are 2 bassoon concertos and 6 quartets for Bassoon and Strings.

—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire