Friedrich Riegel

Friedrich Samuel Riegel (1 October 1825 – 10 April 1907) was a German organist and composer. He was born in Regensburg and died in Munich.

Riegel finished school in Regensburg and completed teacher training at the teachers’ seminary in Altdorf. He worked briefly as a rural schoolteacher before entering the Bavarian Conservatory, where he studied with Johann Georg Herzog.

In 1852 he became organist of the Church of the Barefoot (Barfuesserkirche) in Augsburg. In 1854 he succeeded Carl Ludwig Drobisch as musical director of the Protestant community in Augsburg, and in 1856 he took part in the inauguration of Eberhard Walcker’s new organ in Ulm Minster, then among the largest organs in the world.

From 1858 he lived in Munich. Until 1900 he served as organist of the Lutheran Church of St. Matthew and also taught organ at the Bavarian Conservatory; his pupils included Adolf Gessner.

Riegel was among the most important advocates of using a cappella choir singing in Lutheran worship in the second half of the 19th century. He served as musical editor of the influential anthology “Schatz des liturgischen Chor- und Gemeindegesangs” (1865–1872), compiled by Ludwig Schöberlein.

As a composer, he wrote organ preludes and fugues and other church music. His first ten organ preludes and fugues, published in 1860 as Op. 1, were dedicated to his teacher Johann Georg Herzog.

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