About
Ferdinand Ries was a German composer. Ries was a friend, pupil and secretary of Ludwig van Beethoven. He composed eight symphonies, a violin concerto, eight piano concertos, three operas, and numerous other works, including 26 string quartets. In 1838 he published a collection of reminiscences of his teacher Beethoven, co-written with Franz Wegeler. The symphonies, some chamber works—most of them with piano—his violin concerto and his piano concertos have been recorded, exhibiting a style which, given his connection to Beethoven, lies between the Classical and early Romantic styles.
Ries was born into a musical family of Bonn. His grandfather, Johann Ries (1723–1784), was appointed court trumpeter to the Elector of Cologne at Bonn. Ries was the eldest son of the violinist and Archbishopric Music Director Franz Anton Ries (1755-1846) and the brother of violinist and composer (Pieter) Hubert Ries (1802-1886) and violinist Joseph Ries (1798-1850). He received piano lessons from his father and was instructed by Bernhard Romberg, who also belonged to the Bonn Hofkapelle as a cellist. At the end of 1798 he went for further training in Arnsberg to meet an organist friend of his father; a year later he went to Munich. There he worked hard as a music copyist.
In January 1811, Ries left for Russia with the goal of an extended concert trip via Kassel, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm to St. Petersburg. There, he met his old teacher Bernhard Romberg, with whom he played concerts in Western Russia. He composed two piano concertos for this tour, No. 2 in E flat major, op. 42 and No. 3 in C sharp minor, op. 55. However, in the summer of 1812, with Napoleon advancing on Moscow, Ries left Russia to tour across Europe, arriving in London in April 1813.