A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Riem, Wilhelm
RIEM, Wilhelm Friedrich, born at Colleda in Thuringia, Feb. 17, 1779, was one of J. A. Hiller's pupils in the St. Thomas school at Leipzig. In 1807 he was made organist of the Reformed church there, and in 1814 of the St. Thomas school itself. In 1822 he was called to Bremen to take the cathedral organ and be Director of the Singakademie, where he remained till his death, April 20, 1837. He was an industrious writer. His cantata for the anniversary of the Augsburg Confession 1830 (for which Mendelssohn's Reformation Symphony was intended) is dead; so are his quintets, quartets, trios, and other large works, but some of his 8 sonatas and 12 sonatinas are still used for teaching purposes. He left 2 books of studies for the PF., which are out of print, and 16 progressive exercises.
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