Toussaint Prévost, known under the pseudonym Théodore Ritter (5 April 1840 – 6 April 1886) was a 19th-century French composer and pianist.

Biography

The son of composer Eugène Prévost, he was a student of

Hector Berlioz In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

. He began his career as a baritone singer at

La Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (french: Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, italic=no, ; nl, Koninklijke Muntschouwburg, italic=no; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National O ...

in Brussels under the name ''Félix,'' then studied the piano with

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

. He quickly became a renowned pianist and began an international career under the name "Théodore Ritter". A member of the "Société des derniers concerts de Beethoven" (1860), he undertook a concert tour in Canada and the US with the violinist

Frantz Jehin-Prume Frantz Jehin-Prume (18 April 1839 – 29 May 1899) was a Canadian violinist, composer, and music educator of Belgian birth. He began his career as a highly successful concert violinist in Europe. From 1865 on he lived and worked mainly in Mo ...

and the operatic singer

Carlotta Patti Carlotta Patti (c. 1840 – 27 June 1889) was a nineteenth-century Italian operatic soprano and older sister to famed soprano Adelina Patti. Various sources list her birth year as 1835, 1840, and 1842. Born Florence, Italy into a musical family, ...

in 1869–1870. Among others, he was the teacher of Isidore Philipp and

Samuel Sanford Samuel Simons Sanford (15 March 18496 January 1910) was an American pianist and educator. Early life He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Education He studied piano in New York with William Mason (son of Lowell Mason and student of Franz Lis ...

. Married with the singer Alice Desgranges; his niece Gabrielle Ritter-Ciampi was also famous as a singer. A chevalier of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

(1880), he is buried at cimetière du Père-Lachaise (20th division)His file on the site of the cemetery
/ref> He composed numerous pieces for piano and transcriptions, as well as piano versions of ''

L'enfance du Christ ''L'enfance du Christ'' (''The Childhood of Christ''), Opus 25, is an oratorio by the French composer Hector Berlioz, based on the Holy Family's flight into Egypt (see Gospel of Matthew 2:13). Berlioz wrote his own words for the piece. Most of it ...

'' and '' Roméo et Juliette'' by Berlioz .

Bibliography

* Émile Maillard: ''Nantes et le département au XIXe siècle'' (1891), p. 199, . * Henry Charles Lahee
''Famous pianists of today and yesterday''
(1901), p. 335, . * Georges d'Heylli
''Dictionnaire des pseudonymes''
(1977), p. 377–378, .

References

External links

Théodore Ritter
on Data.bnf.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:Ritter, Theodore 1840 births 1886 deaths 19th-century classical composers Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Knights of the Legion of Honour 19th-century French male classical pianists French male classical composers French Romantic composers Musicians from Nantes