Georg Riedel (jazz musician)

Georg Riedel (8 January 1934 – 25 February 2024) was a Czechoslovak-born Swedish double bass player and composer.^[1] Riedel migrated to Sweden at the age of four^[1] and attended school in Stockholm, including the Adolf Fredrik's Music School.^[2]

Georg Riedel
Riedel in 2013
Background information
Born	(1934-01-08)8 January 1934 Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia
Died	25 February 2024(2024-02-25) (aged 90) Stockholm, Sweden
Genres	Jazz, Classical music, music for children
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer
Instrument	Double bass

The best known recording featuring Riedel is probably Jan Johansson's Jazz på svenska (Jazz in Swedish), a minimalist-jazz compilation of folk songs recorded in 1962–1963, though Riedel recorded with other leading Swedish musicians^[1] including trumpeter Jan Allan and Arne Domnérus.

Riedel's profile as a composer derives almost exclusively from writing music for Astrid Lindgren movies, including the main theme from the Emil i Lönneberga ("Emil of Maple Hills") movies.^[1] He also composed the music for several films by Arne Mattsson in the 1960s as well as for film adaptions of novels by Stig Dagerman.

Riedel also played on Jazz at the Pawnshop in 1977.

Biography

Riedel was born in Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia, to a Sudeten German father and a Czech Jewish mother. In 1938, when Riedel was four years old, the family fled to Sweden following the German annexation of the Sudetenland.^[3][4]

Riedel died in Stockholm on 25 February 2024, at the age of 90.^[5]

Selected film music

• 491 (1964)
• Morianna (1965)
• Nightmare (1965)
• Woman of Darkness (1966)
• Pippi Longstocking (1969) (with Jan Johansson)
• Emil i Lönneberga (1971)
• Nya hyss av Emil i Lönneberga (1972)
• Emil och griseknoen (1973)
• Världens bästa Karlsson (1974)
• The Children of Noisy Village (1986)
• More About the Children of Noisy Village (1987)
• Ved Vejen (1988)
• Trust Me (2010)