Karl Ferdinand Becker (17 July 1804

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

– 26 October 1877 Plagwitz section of Leipzig), was a German writer on music,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and an

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

Biography

Becker was the son of physician and writer Gottfried Wilhelm Becker. He attended the

Thomasschule St. Thomas School, Leipzig (german: Thomasschule zu Leipzig; la, Schola Thomana Lipsiensis) is a co-educational and public boarding school in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1212 and is one of the oldest schools ...

in Leipzig in his early years, where his teachers

Johann Gottfried Schicht Johann Gottfried Schicht (29 September 1753 – 16 February 1823) was a German composer and conductor. Schicht was born in Reichenau, in the Electorate of Saxony. He trained as a lawyer, studying from 1776 at Leipzig. He was the conductor ...

and

Friedrich Schneider Johann Christian Friedrich Schneider (3 January 1786 in Alt-Waltersdorf – 23 November 1853 in Dessau) was a German pianist, composer, organist, and conductor. Schneider studied piano first with his father Johann Gottlob Schneider (senior), and ...

trained him in music.Vgl. Annegret Rosenmüller: ''Carl Ferdinand Becker (1804–1877). Studien zu Leben und Werk'' (= ''Musikstadt Leipzig'', Band 4), Hamburg 2000, S. 11 f. He made his debut as a pianist at 14. From 1820 to 1833, he was a violinist in the

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Gewandhausorchester; also previously known in German as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) is a German symphony orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. The orchestra is named after the concert hall in which it is bas ...

. In 1825, he became an organist in the

Peterskirche The ''Peterskirche'' ( en, St. Peter's Church) is a Baroque Catholic Church, Roman Catholic parish church in Vienna, Austria. It was transferred in 1970 by the Archbishop of Vienna Franz König, Franz Cardinal König to the priests of the Opus ...

and then in 1837 at the St. Nicholas Church. In 1846, he became an instructor of organ and music history at the University of Music and Theatre at Leipzig. He was one of the founders of the Leipzig

Bach Gesellschaft The German Bach-Gesellschaft (Bach Society) was a society formed in 1850 for the express purpose of publishing the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach without editorial additions. The collected works are known as the Bach-Gesellschaft-Ausga ...

in 1850.

Works

His works on the history of music place him in the same rank with Raphael Georg Kiesewetter and

Carl von Winterfeld Carl Georg Vivigens von WinterfeldBernhard Stockmann MGG 2016 (28 January 1784 – 19 February 1852) was a German lawyer and musicologist. He studied music from the 16th to 18th centuries, and was instrumental in reviving it, especially the music ...

. Among his works are: *''Rathgeber für Organisten'' (Advisor for organists; Leipzig, 1828) *''Systematisch-chrologische Darstellung der musikalischen Litteratur'' (Systematic chronological representation of musical literature; Leipzig, 1836) *''Die Hausmusik in Deutschland im 16. 17. und 18. Jahrhundert'' (Household music in Germany in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries; Leipzig, 1840) *''Die Tonkünstler des 19. Jahrhunderts'' (Composers of the 19th century; 1847) *''Die Tonwerke des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts'' (1847), an index of musical works published in the 16th and 17th centuries *''Lieder und Weisen vergangener Jahrhunderte'' (Songs and melodies of past centuries; 2d ed., Leipzig, 1852) He was among the most active contributors to

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

's ''

Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 'Die'' (; en, " heNew Journal of Music") is a music magazine, co-founded in Leipzig by Robert Schumann, his teacher and future father-in law Friedrich Wieck, and his close friend Ludwig Schuncke. Its first issue appeared on 3 April 1834. Histo ...

''. Other journals he contributed to were ''Caecilia'' (edited by

Gottfried Weber Jacob Gottfried Weber (March 1, 1779 – September 21, 1839) was a prominent German writer on music (especially on music theory), composer, and jurist. Biography Weber was born at Freinsheim. From 1824 to 1839, he was the editor of ''Cäcilia'', ...

), ''Eufonia'', ''Tageblatt'', and ''Zeitgenossen''.

Scores

IMSLP
Organ music.

Notes

References

* * * * * * Rosenmüller, Annegret. Carl Ferdinand Becker (1804 - 1877) - Studien zu Leben und Werk. Hamburg: Verlag von Bockel. 2000. * Becker, Carl Ferdinand: Die Tonkünstler Des Neunzehnten Jahrhunderts – Ein kalendarisches Handbuch zur Kunstgeschichte. Kösslingsche Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1849 * Becker, C. F. Die Choralsammlungen der verschiedenen christlichen Kirchen. Leipzig: Verlag Fleischer, 1845. {{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Karl Ferdinand 1804 births 1877 deaths 19th-century composers 19th-century violinists 19th-century German musicians 19th-century German male musicians German organists German male organists German violinists German male violinists Musicians from Leipzig 19th-century organists 19th-century German musicologists