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

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. The following year Benda was summoned to Potsdam as a composer and arranger 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 as '' Kapellmeister,'' where he constantly cultivated his talents for

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

, 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 p ...

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 Gotha (district), district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine House of Wet ...

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 libr ...

s, several operettas, and the melodramas ', '' Medea'' 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. In 1774, the Swiss-born director Abel Seyler's theatrical company 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, 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 signifi ...

in Königsberg. He died less than a year after his father. Benda's Harpsichord Concerto in C was featured in Apple Computer's 1989 Knowledge Navigator concept video.

Operas

*' ( libretto by Giovanni Andrea Galletti, opera seria, 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 Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter (3 September 1746 – 18 March 1797) was a German poet and dramatist. Biography He was born at Gotha. He started out studying law, but early on was influenced to write for the theatre. After the completion of his univer ...

, Singspiel, 1775, Gotha) *'' Medea'' (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)

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