Johann Gottfried Kuntsch or Kuntzsch (20 December 1775 – 12 March 1855) was a German organist and teacher, remembered as the teacher of Robert Schumann, who dedicated a set of pedal piano studies to him.
Kuntsch was born in Dresden on 20 December 1775.[1] He became a teacher at the Zwickau Lyceum and organist of St Mary's Cathedral in that city.[1] He is described in Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians as "one of those earnest, old-fashioned, somewhat pedantic, musicians, to whom Germany owes so much; who are born in the poorest ranks, raise themselves by unheard-of efforts and self-denial, and die without leaving any permanent mark except the pupils whom they help to form."[2]
The most prominent of Kuntsch's pupils was Robert Schumann, who studied the piano with him and seemed destined for a career as a virtuoso pianist until he turned to composition.[3] Schumann's studies for the pedal piano – six pieces in canon form (Op. 56), composed in 1845 and published in 1846 – are dedicated to his former teacher.[2]
Kuntsch died in Zwickau on 12 March 1855, aged 79.[1]