Richard Schmidt (16 June 1877 – 1958 in Dresden[1]) was a German cantor and organist.
Schmidt was born in 1877 as the son of the cantor Wilhelm Schmidt (1851–1896) and his wife Auguste Helbig in Oderwitz, Amtshauptmannschaft Löbau , Saxony.[2] After attending the Dresden Kreuzschule (1888–1896), he worked as an assistant organist at the Trinitatiskirche.[1] From 1896 to 1900, he studied piano and organ[3] at the Königlichen Konservatorium Dresden.[2]
From 1900 to 1902 he worked as répétiteur at the Semperoper Dresden.[2] From 1901 to 1916, he was cantor and organist at the Jakobikirche and from 1903 to 1928 a teacher at the Dresden Conservatory.[1] From 1913 to 1928, he was a music teacher at the Dresden Kreuzschule.[1] From 1916 to 1945 he was cantor and organist at the Erlöserkirche,[1] where he was substituted by Cantor Reiche during his military service.[4] From 1928, he was a lecturer in piano, organ and music theory[2] at the orchestral school of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden.[1] After the destruction in World War II, he participated in countless cantatas and oratorios under Cantor Johannes John at the Herz-Jesu-Kirche .[1]
He was a member of the Deutscher Tonkünstlerverband, the Neue Bachgesellschaft and the Tonkünstlervereins Dresden.[2]
Schmidt, Protestant, was married to Elsa Röber from 1904 and father of a son.[2]