Ritter, likely a pupil of
Christoph Bernhard in
Dresden. A notice on one of his works described him as
Kammerorganist (chamber organist) in
Halle in 1666, although this position does not appear in the records until 1672. In 1677 he was the
Hoforganist (court organist). The composer
David Pohle was
Kapellmeister at Halle during these years. Ritter may have left Halle in 1677, as the role of
Kammerorganist was filled by
Johann Philipp Krieger that year. Some years later he went to Sweden. In 1681, he was mentioned on a record of the
Stockholm court, a year later as deputy
Kapellmeister. Ritter went back to Dresden in 1683, becoming
Kammerorganist and deputy
Kapellmeister under Christoph Bernhard. In 1688, he was evidently back in Stockholm as
Kapellmeister, remaining there until 1699. According to a detail on a vocal work, Ritter was living in
Hamburg in 1704. In 1717, he described himself in a letter to
Johann Mattheson as "
Emeritus, who did his part at the royal, electoral and princely courts for more than 30 years
in re musica". ==Works==