To the extent that Ludwig Nohl is remembered, it is as the discoverer of Beethoven's bagatelle, Für Elise. He was, however, a serious scholar of the history and aesthetics of music, focusing especially on Beethoven and his letters. He was also a writer of many biographies of musical figures, ranging from popular to scholarly. He was one of the first musicologists to hold an academic position in Germany, and held Mozart, Beethoven, and especially Wagner in the highest regard.
To Hermann Ritter, he must have been a great encouragement. Nohl had the ear of many of the great musicians of the day, and at the very least arranged meetings for Ritter with both Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt, occasions which were indispensible to his career. He also gave a series of lecture-recitals at which Ritter assisted, first as a violinist and then as a viola alta player; it was at one of these that the viola alta had its debut performance, to great acclaim. Insofar as Ritter was a scholar — and his best work is well-researched and -reasoned — it is due to Nohl's influence.
Several of Nohl's biographies have been translated into English, and all bear reading today. Nohl lovingly places the subjects in their social surroundings, and by embracing as fact the folkloric stories that have risen around them, he communicates the popular affection and admiration in which they were held and the character which the (particularly German) people have perceived in them. Nohl's works put on display the living cultural connection people of his time felt with the great composers of the past that few can experience today.
