Competition

The 1st international August Gottfried Ritter Organ Competition was held in 1995; its enormous success made further events of the kind almost unavoidable. The organisers, the civic "Musikrat", therefore decided to hold the competition every 4 years, emboldened by a review which appeared in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on the 8th October 1996:

... the few remaining organs of the German romantic era are, and rightly so, being polished up like icons. But what has happened to the music of this period? Was there really creative chasm between Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Max Reger? Some organ specialists might know Joseph Rheinberger (1839 bis 1901), but who was August Gottfried Ritter, who achieved fame during his lifetime not only as the composer of orchestral and chamber music but who was known as an excellent organist and improviser? ... One cannot praise the initiative of the city of Magdeburg in instituting an organ competition im memory of Ritter highly enough  ...

With the institutionalisation of this important international competition ...

... an excellent means of testing, selecting and advancing the careers of rising young organists was created.

... the life and work of the organist, composer and pedagogue August Gottfried Ritter, who was cathedral organist in Magdeburg for many years and who wrote his most important music and theoretical works here, is propagated and honoured.

... a contribution is made, alongside the international Telemann Competition, to the image of the city as a city of music, musical research, and music education for young people.

... the increasing importance of the city as a place with important organs and imposing buildings is reflected.