Georg Anton Benda ( cz, Jiří Antonín Benda, italic=no, link=no; 30 June 17226 November 1795) was a composer,

violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists, notable violinists from the baroque era onwards * List of contemporary classical violinists, notable contemporary classical violinists * List of violinist/compose ...

and

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

of the classical period from the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia ( cs, České království),; la, link=no, Regnum Bohemiae sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czec ...

Biography

Born into a family of notable musicians in Old Benatek (today Benátky nad Jizerou), Bohemia, he studied at the Piarist Gymnasium (grammar school) in Kosmanos and at the Jesuit Gymnasium in Gitschin from 1735 to 1742. Benda was 19 when

Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...

bestowed upon him in 1741 the position of second violinist in the chapel of

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

. The following year Benda was summoned to

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

as a composer and

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestra ...

for his older brother Franz, himself an illustrious composer and violinist. Seven years later, in 1749, he entered the service of the

Duke of Gotha Saxe-Gotha (german: Sachsen-Gotha) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in the former Landgraviate of Thuringia. The ducal residence was erected at Gotha. History The duchy was established in 1640, when ...

as ''

,'' where he constantly cultivated his talents for composition, specializing in religious music. A

stipend A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work pe ...

from the duke allowed Benda to take a study trip to Italy in 1764. He returned to

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

in 1766, and devoted himself to composition. In all, he wrote about ten

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

s, several operettas, and the melodramas ', ''

Medea In Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the ...

'' and '. In 1778 he resigned his position and visited Hamburg, Vienna and other cities, and finally settled at the little hamlet of Köstritz. Benda's most important contribution lies in the development of the German melodramas, a form of musical stage entertainment which influenced

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

. In 1774, the Swiss-born director

Abel Seyler Abel Seyler (23 August 1730, Liestal – 25 April 1800, Rellingen) was a Swiss-born theatre director and former merchant banker, who was regarded as one of the great theatre principals of 18th century Europe. He played a pivotal role in the dev ...

theatrical company Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

arrived in Gotha, and Seyler commissioned Benda to write several successful melodramas, including ''Ariadne auf Naxos'', ''Medea'' and ''Pygmalion''. ''Ariadne auf Naxos'' is generally considered his best work. At its debut in 1775, the opera received enthusiastic reviews in Germany and afterwards, in the whole of Europe, with music critics calling attention to its originality, sweetness, and ingenious execution. Besides that he wrote many instrumental pieces including many sinfonias, keyboard sonatas, keyboard concertos, violin concertos and a smaller number of trio sonatas, violin sonatas and flute sonatas. Benda also wrote music for

masonic Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

rituals. Benda died in Köstritz, Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, at the age of 73, leaving his son, Friedrich Ludwig Benda (1752–1796), who briefly carried on the family musical tradition, serving as a music director in Hamburg and later in

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label=Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwer ...

, before finally becoming the

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signif ...

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was na ...

. He died less than a year after his father. Benda's Harpsichord Concerto in C was featured in

Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...

's 1989 Knowledge Navigator concept video.

Operas

*' ( libretto by Giovanni Andrea Galletti,

opera seria ''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called '' dramma per musica'' or '' melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to a ...

, 1765,

) *' (libretto by Galletti,

Intermezzo In music, an intermezzo (, , plural form: intermezzi), in the most general sense, is a composition which fits between other musical or dramatic entities, such as acts of a play or movements of a larger musical work. In music history, the term ha ...

, 1766, Gotha) *' (Intermezzo, 1766, Gotha) *' (libretto by , melodrama, 1775, Gotha) *' (') (libretto by Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter, Singspiel, 1775, Gotha) *''

'' (libretto by Gotter, melodrama, 1775, Leipzig) *''Walder'' (libretto by Gotter, Singspiel, 1776, Gotha) *' (libretto by Gotter, Singspiel, 1776, Gotha) *' (libretto by Gotter, Singspiel, 1778, Gotha) *'' Pygmalion'' (libretto by Gotter, melodrama, 1779, Vienna) *', revised as ''Almansor und Nadine'' (1791), (unknown librettist, melodrama, 1779, Vienna)Glatthorn, Austin (2020). "Introduction" in Georg Anton Benda, ''Philon und Theone'', ed. Austin Glatthorn, Recent Researches in the Music of the Classical Era, 115. Middleton, WI: A-R Editions *' (libretto by Gotter, Singspiel, 1787,

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

)

References

External links

* *

italianopera.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Benda, Georg 1722 births 1795 deaths 18th-century Bohemian musicians 18th-century classical composers 18th-century German composers 18th-century male musicians Composers of masonic music Czech Classical-period composers Czech male classical composers Czech opera composers German male classical composers German opera composers Male opera composers People from Benátky nad Jizerou People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Seyler theatrical company

Biography

Operas

References

Further reading

External links