(b Leipzig, 12 Feb 1769; d there, 16 Dec 1842). German critic and editor. He studied in Leipzig, where he met Mozart in 1789. A writer trained in music and theology, he became the first editor (1798-1818) of Breitkopf & Härtel's Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, remaining a well-respected contributor until 1835. His viewpoint was conservative and his first appraisals of Beethoven were severely critical, but from 1800 he came to regard him as the most important exponent of the new German music. Weber and Spohr set texts by Rochlitz and Goethe held him in high esteem.
