Franz Anton Ries

{{Short description|German violinist}}

{{More citations needed|date=February 2025}}

Image:Ries.jpg

Franz Anton Xaverius Ries (10 November 1755 – 1 November 1846) was a German violinist. His father, Johann Ries (1723–1784), was court trumpeter to the Elector of Cologne in Bonn.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=isQIAQAAMAAJ |title=Historic Brass Society Journal |date=1992 |publisher=The Society |volume=4 |pages=15 |language=en |lccn=sn89003839 |quote=An unknown piece of hunting music from the 18th century: the Missa Sancti Huberti (1756) of the Bonn court musician Johann Ries (1723-1784)]." Kirchenmusikaliches Jahrbuch 73 (1989): 35-40.}}{{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=Oscar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aX7UtLXMCJUC |title=The International Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians |date=1975 |publisher=Dodd, Mead |isbn=978-0-460-04235-2 |pages=1840 |language=en |quote=Ries, the name of a distinguished German musical family, headed by Johann Ries (b. Benzheim, 1723–d. Cologne, 1784), trumpeter to the Electoral Court in Bonn and violinist in the orchestra.}}

Ries was born in Bonn, and studied under J.P. Salomon.{{Cite book |last=Randel |first=Don Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HXILEAAAQBAJ |title=The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians |date=2002-10-30 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-25572-2 |pages=563 |language=en |quote=Ries, Franz (Anton) (b. Bonn, 10 Nov. 1755; d. Godesberg, 1 Nov. 1846). Violinist. Pupil of J. P. Salomon.}} He was a child prodigy, and was concertmaster of the Kurfürstlichen Hoforchester in Vienna. He spent most of his life in Bonn, though he had success in his early years in Vienna as both a solo violinist and in quartets. One of his students in Bonn was the young Beethoven.{{Cite book |last=Lindeman |first=Stephan D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h0Lv6dd_htQC |title=Structural Novelty and Tradition in the Early Romantic Piano Concerto |date=1999 |publisher=Pendragon Press |isbn=978-1-57647-000-8 |pages=37 |language=en |quote=Born into a family of musicians from Bonn, Ferdinand Ries (baptized 28 November 1784) studied in his early years with his father Franz, a violinist who had been a child prodigy. The elder Ries had enjoyed great success as a performer in Vienna, but had chosen to return to Bonn, where he taught the young Beethoven and dealt closely with Beethoven's family, especially after the death of the composer's mother.}} He was given an appointment by Elector Maximilian in 1779, which he kept until the court's dissolution in 1794.[https://www.artaria.com/pages/ries-ferdinand-1784-1838 Reference to Franz Ries in biography of his son, Ferdinand Ries], artaria.com. Accessed 7 November 2022.

After this he continued teaching; he was awarded an Order of the Red Eagle and an honorary doctorate from Bonn University. He died in Godesberg, nine days before his 91st birthday.

Two of his sons, Ferdinand and Hubert, became well-known composers in their own right.