Sydney Beck (2 September 1906 – 7 April 2001) was an American

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

, music educator, violinist and

viol The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitc ...

player. As a scholar, he was considered an authority on English music of the 16th through 18th centuries. One of his major contributions was his research on composer

Thomas Morley Thomas Morley (1557 – early October 1602) was an English composer, theorist, singer and organist of the Renaissance. He was one of the foremost members of the English Madrigal School. Referring to the strong Italian influence on the Engl ...

which led to the modern publication of Morley's ''The First Book of Consort Lessons'' in 1959. Beck led his own ensemble, The Consort Players, in performances of Morley's music and other works by Morley's contemporaries; performances which contributed to the interest in reviving

broken consort In English early Baroque music, a broken consort is an ensemble featuring instruments from more than one family, for example a group featuring both string and wind instruments. A consort consisting entirely of instruments of the same family, on th ...

music in the 20th century.

Life and career

Sydney Beck is from Poughkeepsie. Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, Beck was a graduate of Morris High School in the Bronx and the City University of New York. He was a leading figure in the

early music revival :''See Historically informed performance for a more detailed explanation of this topic.'' The general discussion of how to perform music from ancient or earlier times did not become an important subject of interest until the 19th century, when E ...

movement in New York City from the 1930s to the 1950s. He was an expert in historically informed performance on the viol, and published numerous journal articles related to that topic. He performed in several early music ensembles as a gambist in the 1940s and 1950s. Beck was the long-time head of the Music Division of the Rare Book and Manuscripts Collections at the New York Public Library (NYPL). Funds provided by the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

during the 1930s enabled him to transcribe and to publish for the NYPL a large number of rare works from the Division's collection, including early American symphonies, chamber music, concertos, popular songs, hymns, and other sacred works that had never before been published. From 1968–1976 he was Director of Libraries and a faculty member of the strings program at the New England Conservatory.

White House performance

In 1963, at the invitation of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, his early music ensemble, The Consort Players, performed the musical entertainment under his direction for a

State dinner A state banquet is an official banquet hosted by the head of state in his or her official residence for another head of state, or sometimes head of government, and other guests. Usually as part of a state visit or diplomatic conference, it is h ...

at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

in honor of

Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg Charlotte (Charlotte Adelgonde Elisabeth Marie Wilhelmine; 23 January 1896 – 9 July 1985) reigned as Grand Duchess of Luxembourg from 14 January 1919 until her abdication on 12 November 1964. She acceded to the throne on 14 January 1919 fol ...

. Among the musicians performing was tenor Robert White. In attendance were President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

, the First Lady, and

Eunice Kennedy Shriver Eunice Mary Kennedy Shriver (July 10, 1921 – August 11, 2009) was an American philanthropist and a member of the Kennedy family. She was the founder of the Special Olympics, a sports organization for persons with physical and intellectual disa ...

among other dignitaries.

Death

Beck died in

Brattleboro, Vermont Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The most populous municipality abutting Vermont's eastern border with New Hampshire, which is the Connecticut River, Brattleboro is located about ...

in 2001 at the age of 94.WU Libraries Necrology
. Gives MLA Notes, v. 58 no. 1, September 2001 as reference. He was married to harpsichordist

Blanche Winogron Blanche Winogron (May 8, 1911 – November 22, 2002) was an American harpsichordist, pianist, virginalist, and teacher. She taught at the Mannes College of Music from 1961 to 1969, and the New England Conservatory of Music from 1968 to 1977. Her st ...

. One of his violin and viola pupils was violist Samuel Rhodes of the

Juilliard String Quartet The Juilliard String Quartet is a classical music string quartet founded in 1946 at the Juilliard School in New York by William Schuman. Since its inception, it has been the quartet-in-residence at the Juilliard School. It has received numerous ...

. Rhodes named Beck as one of the two most influential people in his formative years as a young musician.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Sydney 1906 births 2001 deaths Musicians from New York City People from Brattleboro, Vermont American male violinists City University of New York alumni New England Conservatory faculty Viol players 20th-century American musicologists 20th-century American violinists 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century classical musicians New York Public Library people