MOLA: An Association of Music Performance Librarians is pleased to present the 2025 Eroica Award for Outstanding Service to Music to editor Christian Rudolf Riedel at its 43rd annual conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
“Christian Riedel has set the gold standard in editorial excellence for decades,” said Christopher Blackmon, president of MOLA and senior librarian of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. “Defined by his many years of experience as a musician and a devoted scholar, Christian’s editorial work displays a deep respect for composers and a thorough understanding of what librarians and musicians need to perform their best. On behalf of all of us at MOLA, we are thrilled to honor him with the 2025 Eroica Award for Outstanding Service to Music.”
MOLA is the premier professional association for music performance librarians who acquire, prepare, catalogue and maintain music for their institutions. With more than 550 members, the international nonprofit represents 347 organizations, including 255 orchestras, 40 opera and ballet companies, 40 music academies, 8 professional bands and ensembles across the world.
Riedel has worked for more than 30 years in the editorial department at Breitkopf & Härtel in Wiesbaden, Germany, where he supervised the first critical edition of Beethoven’s symphonies, numerous volumes of the Sibelius Complete Edition, and other major orchestral works. His own editions of orchestral works by Mozart, Beethoven, Dvořák, Mendelssohn, Lalo, Robert Schumann, and Mahler are widely respected for being source-critical and practical-use driven.
In recent years, Riedel has received the Presto Music Award for his editions of Mahler Symphony No. 4 (2020) and Symphony No. 9 (2024). He is currently serving as project manager and editor for “Gustav Mahler — The Symphonies” edition, despite retiring from his position as in-house editor.
In a video, Riedel reflected on what receiving the 2025 Eroica Award means to him.
“It makes me happy and proud at the same time,” Riedel said. “Happy because I’ve learned so much from this helpful organization, MOLA, and proud to be the first to receive the award as somebody who serves the music from the publishing side. Outstanding service to music often happens quietly and without applause, but with great care and utmost dedication. That’s exactly what I’ve been trying to do as an editor for quite a while already, and it’s the daily work of my dear MOLA colleagues — unheroically heroic as they do it, without any fuss.”
Elena Lence Talley, past president of MOLA and principal librarian of the Kansas City Symphony, had nothing but praise for Riedel’s longstanding partnership with performance librarians around the world.
“Christian’s influence on orchestral music is profound,” Talley said. “In addition to his editorial expertise, he has been in the vanguard of fostering and strengthening the collaboration between music publishers and performance librarians. He has been a friend to MOLA for many years and was one of the first to take part in the MOLA/Publisher Joint Committee. He has attended MOLA conferences since 2004 and has been featured in numerous conference sessions. His impact will continue to shape the music we perform and share for generations.”
Nick Pfefferkorn, managing and publishing director of Breitkopf & Härtel, described his colleague as a visionary editor.
“Since he first joined Breitkopf & Härtel music publishing house, Christian Rudolf Riedel — or just Rudolf, as we call him — has edited over 30 major works in Urtext or Critical editions,” Pfefferkorn said. “He saw the need and value of replacing old and outdated editions long before other publishers or editors even began to think about the term ‘Urtext.’ It is due to his devoted work as both editor and foremost as an experienced musician and scholar, that today Breitkopf & Härtel’s Orchestra Library not only consists of hundreds of scholarly edited editions but the catalogs of various other publishers too.”
Most days, even in retirement, Riedel continues to work with Mahler’s music.
“Rudolf is still coming to the office on a 4-day basis, but everyone can assume that he is thinking about and working on Mahler 24/7,” Pfefferkorn added. “To paraphrase Mahler: ‘His work is like the universe, it contains everything.’ Christian Riedel embodies the ideals of MOLA’s Eroica Award for his quiet, passionate and decades-long service and commitment to music and musicians around the globe.”
Riedel is the fourth recipient of the Eroica Award for Outstanding Service to Music. Past recipients include conductor James Conlon (2024), conductor JoAnn Falletta (2023), and violinist Jennifer Koh (2022).
The award honors individuals who inspire MOLA members through advocacy, artistic excellence, or leadership. Recipients may include performers, scholars, editors, or anyone who exemplifies inclusion, mentorship, scholarship, or innovation in any facet of the music world.
Learn more about MOLA at mola-inc.org. Visit breitkopf.com to see more of Christian Rudolf Riedel’s projects.
About Christian Rudolf Riedel
Since joining Breitkopf & Härtel as orchestra editor in 1988, this distinguished music professional has contributed significantly to musical scholarship, currently serving as project manager and editor for the prestigious “Gustav Mahler — The Symphonies” edition project. Born in Leipzig in 1952, his journey through music began with conducting studies in Leipzig, Weimar and St. Petersburg — working with Kurt Masur and Arvid Jansons — complemented by masterclasses in Weimar, Szombathely and Tanglewood. His conducting posts in Eisenach, Ulm and Mainz led to his appointment as Artistic Director of the Merck Darmstadt Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, where he thoughtfully shaped the ensemble’s repertoire through revivals of classical works alongside premieres of contemporary compositions. Alongside his performance career, he has taught at the Franz Liszt Hochschule Weimar and the Peter Cornelius Conservatory in Mainz, whilst also providing guidance as harpsichordist and pianist at various vocal master classes.
Music librarians rock; they are vital to the functioning of musical institutions everywhere. I wrote about them in SFCV last year.
