Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

no rittbb! RIZZIO
on the Viola Alta, ' an instrument which he
claimed to be his own invention. While studying
history and art at the Heidelberg University,
Herr Bitter became deeply interested in the
history of musical instruments, and the desire
to improve the muffled tone of the ordinary
viola induced him to attempt the construction
of a similar instrument which should possess
the acute resonant qualities of the violin.
According to his own account, this consummation
was effected by the aid of the rules laid
down by Antonio Bagatella in his pamphlet
entitled Begole per la costruzione di Violmi,
Viole, VioloncelH,e Violon%e\c. eto.,Padua,1786,
of which a second edition appeared in Padua
in 1883, and German translations at Padua in
"
1786 and Leipzig in 1806. In point of fact
Hermann Ritter's ' Viola Alta ' was in reality a
revival of the large 'Tenor Viol,' that direct
descendant of those instruments de remplissage
the QuirtteaaAHaiUeContre, which he methodised
into a tenorof extralarge proportions constructed
on the scientific acoustical basis appertaining to
the violin. His public appearances with the
instrument began in 1876. They attracted
the consideration of many eminent composers,
and Wagner, who was at that time occupied
with his 'Nibelungen,' invited his aid for the
production of that opera in the same year.
After completing this engagement Herr Eitter
travelled for several years, touring in Germany,
Austria, Switzerland, Holland, Bussia, England,
and Scotland, and in 1879 he was appointed
professor of musical history and aesthetics, as
well as of the viola, at the Eoyal School of
music at Wiirzburg. There his talents and
personal influence were the means of attracting
a vast number of students, who assisted in
spreading the fame of his invention, and in
1889 five of his pupils were playing in the
orchestra of the Bayreuth festival. In 1889 he
was learnedly advocating the use of a three-footed
binder in a pamphlet entitled Der Dreifiissige
Oder Normal-Geigensteg (Wiirzburg, G. Hartz).
The Grand Duke of Mecklenburg appointed
Herr Ritter his Court Chamber '
Virtuoso,' and
the Emperor Ludwig II. of Bavaria gave him
the title of 'Court Professor.' He married the
singer Justine Haecker in 1884. He wrote
and arranged an immense amount of music for
his 'Viola Alta' and traced its history in his
book entitled Die Geschichte des Viola Alta
(Leipzig, Mersebnrg). (See Viola.) G. Adema,
Hermann Ritter und seine Viola alia (Wiirzburg,
1881, 2nd edition, 1890) ; Hermann Ritter,
Die Viola alta Oder Altgeige (hevpzig, 1885), 1st
edition, Heidelberg, 1876, 2nd edition, Leipzig,
1877. (Biemann, Diet, of Music.) B. h-a.
RITTER (properly Bbnnbt), Theodore,
born near Paris, April 5, 1841, was a pupil of
Liszt and wrote a number of successful drawingroom
pieces (' Chant du braconnier,' ' Sylphes,'
etc.). He produced two operas ('Marianne,' at
Paris in 1861, and La dea risorta,' at Florence,
'
1865) ; he died in Paris, April 6, 1886.
EIVARDE, Sebgb Achille, violinist, was
bom on Oct. 31, 1865, in New York of an
American mother, his father being a Spaniard.
He lived in America till the age of eleven,
receiving lessons successively from Felix Simon,
Henri Wieniawski and Joseph White (a man
of colour). Coming to Europe he entered the
Paris Conservatoire, to become a pupil of Charles
Dancla. He won a first prize in July 1879, sharing
the same with Franz Ondricek. In 1881
he returned to America, where he stayed three
years, and then gave up violin-playing entirely
for a time. In 1886 he came back to Paris and
entered Lamoureux's orchestra, in which he
remained for five years sis principal violin, and
occasional soloist. He gave up the appointment
in 1891 and made his d^but in London in 1894.
In 1899 he took the post of violin professor
at the Eoyal College of Music. He is occasionally
heard as soloist in London and abroad,
being the possessor of an exceptionally pure
style, but spends most of his time in teaching.
Until recently he played almost exclusively
upon violins made by a modern maker,
Szepessy Bela, but recently has taken to a
Nicolas Lupot. w. w. c.
RIVISTA MUSICALE ITALIANA, an important
quarterly review on music, published
by the firm of Bocca in Turin, and edited by
L. Torchi. Each quarterly ' fascicolo ' contains
about 200 pages in Italian or French, the
articles headed Memorie ' ' dealing frequently
with points of musical archaeology, while Arte
'
contemporanea ' is the heading of those which
treat of current events or the criticism of new
music. Operas and other works of importance
are discussed in detail, there are illustrations,
musical and otherwise, and shorter reviews of
musical books appear under the title of ' Eecensioni.'
A useful feature is a list of articles on
music which appear in other periodicals. Among
the Italian contributors to the first volume
may be mentioned Signori Ohilesotti, Giani, de
Piccolellis, Tacchinardi, Tebaldiui, and Valdrighi
; while the names of some of the most
eminent writers of other countries, such as
Guido Adler, F. Draeseke, F. A. Gevaert, Adolphe
JuUien, Arthur Pougin, Saint-Saens, Philipp
Spitta, and J. Weckerlin, appear in the list of
contributors. The publication began in 1894,
and has maintained a high standard of excellence
ever since. u.
EIZZIO, David (Rizzi, or Ricoi), the son
of a professional musician and dancing-master,
born at Turin, in Italy, in the early years of
the 16th century. He obtained a post at the
court of the Duke of Savoy, and came over to
Scotland in the train of the ambassador in
1561. With his brother Joseph he remained
in the service of Queen Mary, in the first instance
as a bass singer, receiving £80 per year;