Heinrich Rietsch (* 22 September 1860 in Falkenau an der Eger; † 12 December 1927 in Prague), born Heinrich Löwy, was an Austrian musicologist and composer of Bohemian origin.
Heinrich Rietsch was born Heinrich Loewy. His parents were the Falkenau lawyer and K.u.k. Notary Dr. Karl Leopold Loewy (* 1834 Ingrowitz), who was of Jewish origin and converted to Catholicism, and Theresia, daughter of the K.u.k. tax collector Friedrich Rietsch at Gut Perglas near Falkenau. He received his first music lessons from his mother, whose surname he took in 1883. He studied law at the University of Vienna and received his doctorate in 1883. He also studied music and musicology with Eduard Hanslick, Guido Adler, Franz Krenn, Eusebius Mandyczewski and Robert Fuchs. While he held a civil service position, he continued his studies and was awarded his habilitation in 1895. He taught at the Charles University in Prague as a private lecturer at the Institute of Musicology, which he himself founded, and from 1900 he held Adler's chair as associate professor. In 1909 he became a full professor. He was also a member of the board of the Prague German Chamber Music Society. He headed the institute he founded until his death. One of his students was Erich Steinhard.
Rietsch belonged to the school of Viennese musicology founded by Guido Adler. His work focused on style criticism and music aesthetics, song research and the study of Baroque and Romantic music. In the publications of the Gesellschaft zur Herausgabe der Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich he edited numerous compositions from historical manuscripts, including those of Johann Joseph Fux and Georg Muffat.
