Ries, Franz (EN)

Ries Franz, *7 April 1846 Berlin, †20 January 1932 Naumburg, German composer, violinist and publisher, son of Hubert. He learned to play the violin with his father and at the conservatory in Paris with L.J. Massart and H. Vieuxtemps, and composition with F. Kiel. Ries’s promising violin career collapsed in 1873 due to a nervous illness; from then on, he engaged in impresario activities and traded musical items. In 1881, together with H. Erler, he founded the Ries & Erler publishing house in Berlin, which he managed until 1924 when he handed over the management to his son Robert. The publishing house published, among others, songs by E.T.A. Hoffmann, E. Humperdinck, H. Pfitzner, A. Corelli, R. Schumann, salon music and textbooks (including C. Flesch). Franz Ries composed orchestral, chamber and piano pieces as well as songs.