Georg Riedel (6 June 1676 – 5 February 1738, in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was na ...

) was a German composer and

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

. He has been referred to as the "

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label= Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1 ...

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

". Riedel was a native of Sensburg (Mrągowo), in the

Duchy of Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (german: Herzogtum Preußen, pl, Księstwo Pruskie, lt, Prūsijos kunigaikštystė) or Ducal Prussia (german: Herzogliches Preußen, link=no; pl, Prusy Książęce, link=no) was a duchy in the region of Prussia establish ...

. In 1694 Riedel entered the

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg (german: Albertus-Universität Königsberg) was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke Albert of Pruss ...

to study theology. He wrote a serenade, since lost, for the celebrations of the coronation of

Frederick I of Prussia Frederick I (german: Friedrich I.; 11 July 1657 – 25 February 1713), of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was (as Frederick III) Elector of Brandenburg (1688–1713) and Duke of Prussia in personal union ( Brandenburg-Prussia). The latter function ...

in 1701 as well as other occasional works for inaugurations, weddings, birthdays and funerals. In 1709 he was appointed cantor at Altstadt Church, one of Königsberg’s three key musical positions, which he occupied until his death. Riedel's unique monumental settings of the entire

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and ...

, the entire

Book of Psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...

, and the entire

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book o ...

, were preserved in the

Königsberg Public Library Public Library and Archive in Kneiphof Stamp of the library The Königsberg Public Library (german: Stadtbibliothek Königsberg) was a public library in Königsberg, Germany. Background The library developed from the personal collection of Joha ...

. His compositions are probably lost due to the destruction of Königsberg in 1944 and 1945 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. There is, however, still hope that Riedel's works may be recovered in the future, as parts of the various archives of

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...

, post-war Königsberg, were distributed among

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

and

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

institutions. It is not clear if he is related to another Georg Riedel, born 1715 in Neidenburg (Nidzica), who was cantor first of the

Löbenicht Church Löbenicht Church (german: Löbenichtsche Kirche) was a Protestant church in the Löbenicht quarter of Königsberg, Germany. History Originally a Roman Catholic church known as " St. Barbara auf dem Berge", the church was built from 1334 to 13 ...

in Königsberg (1749–1753), then at

Königsberg Cathedral , infobox_width = , image = Kaliningrad 05-2017 img04 Kant Island.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Front (west side) of the cathedral , map_type = , map_ ...

(1753 to his death in 1791).

Works

Monumental oratorios: * ''Evangelium Sanct Matthäi'' 1721 * ''Psalmen Davids'' 1724 * ''Offenbarung'' 1734 Occasional works: * around 140 worksGüttler H. ‘Die Gelegenheitskompositionen Georg Riedels’, Königsberger Beiträge: Festgabe zur vierhundertjährigen Jubelfeier der Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek zu Königsberg Pr. (Königsberg, 1929), 181–95

Recordings

* Cantata "Harmonische Freude frommer Seelen" on ''Trauerkantaten''. Reyghere, Bowman, Mey, Egmond,

Ricercar Consort The Ricercar Consort is a Belgian instrumental ensemble founded in 1980 together with the Ricercar record label of Jérôme Lejeune. The founding members were violinist François Fernandez, organist Bernard Foccroulle, and viola da gamba play ...

. Ricercar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riedel, Georg German Classical-period composers German Baroque composers German male classical composers 18th-century German male musicians People from Mrągowo Musicians from Königsberg People from the Duchy of Prussia University of Königsberg alumni 1676 births 1738 deaths