Musician, born in Strassburg, Alsace, in 1834. He began the study of music under Hauser and Hans M. Schletterer, later had some instruction from Georges Kastner in Paris, and continued his studies in Germany. In 1852 he received the appointment of professor of music in the Protestant seminary of Fénéstrange, Lorraine, and later conducted a series of concerts at Bordeaux. About 1856 he came to the United States, settling at first in Cincinnati, where he advanced the cause of music in many ways. The Cecilia and Philharmonic societies were organized by him, and many works produced for the first time in America. In 1861 he removed to New York, and in 1867 was appointed professor of music at Vassar College. His compositions include a number of instrumental works, many of which have been performed in New York, Boston, and other cities, by the principal orchestras and organizations for chamber-music, some sacred music, and a large number of German songs. He has gained distinction as a writer on musical topics, and is the author of A History of Music in the Form of Lectures (Boston, 1870–74; 2nd ed., London, 1876); Music in England (New York, 1883); Music in America (1883); Manual of Musical History, from the Epoch of Ancient Greece to the Present Time (1886); and Musical Dictation (London, 1888). He edited also The Realm of Tones (New York, 1883), and published a Practical Method for the Instruction of Chorus Classes, and, with Rev. J. R. Kendrick, The Woman’s College Hymnal (Boston, 1887). The degree of doctor of music was conferred on him by the University of New York in 1878. He has contributed to this work on “Music in America.”
His wife, Fanny Raymond Ritter (1840–1890), has become well known through her pamphlets on musical subjects: Woman as a Musician (New York, 1877); Some Famous Songs (London, 1878); Troubadours and Minnesingers; Haydn’s “Seasons” (Poughkeepsie, 1881); and Madrigals (1882). She has also written a volume of poems, Songs and Ballads (New York, 1888), and has translated Louis Ehlert’s Letters on Music to a Lady (London, 1877), and Robert Schumann’s Music and Musicians (London, 1877).
