Rietz, Eduard
1802-1832
Gifted violinist; an intimate friend of Mendelssohn; born at Berlin; elder son of Johann Friedrich, a violaplayer in the Royal Orchestra, under whom he studied, later becoming a pupil of Rode. In 1821 he entered the Singakademie as a tenor, and for some time was a member of the Royal Orchestra, but had to give up public playing in 1824 because of ill health. In 1826 he founded and became conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Society, but died of consumption at the age of thirty. Mendelssohn was fond of him, and held him also in high esteem as a musician; he wrote for and dedicated to Eduard an octet and one of his violin sonatas.