HMR Project: History of Music & Modern Recording

Georg Anton (Jiri Antonin) Benda

Born on 30 June 1722 in Bohemia, violinist, Georg Anton Benda (German for Jiri Antonin Benda in Czech) was younger brother to Franz Benda and Johann Georg Benda, older brother to Joseph Benda, all sons of the weaver Jan Jiri Benda. Georg's sister, Anna Franziska, was an operatic soprano. Georg is among the many composers born in the Czech region who began to make their presence known during the late baroque to classical stretch. Among Benda's more important contributions to the classical period was the melodrama. The melodrama was an interesting operatic development in which thrill was of more weight than characterization, like action films with simple plots and stereotypical roles versus dramas, and usually spoken rather than sung. The singspiel was closely related, a kind of dialogic opera.

The first full melodrama, 'Pygmalion', was written in 1762 by the team of Coignet and Rousseau, though not performed until 1770. Wikipedia Deutsch begins its list of Benda's dramatic works with the opera seria, 'Xindo riconosciuto', as of 1765. It lists 'Das tartarische Gesetz' as his final singspiel in 1787. Mozart, who punctuated the classical style three decades behind Benda, gave Benda his seal of approval and would himself address the melodrama. Other of Benda's works include church music, vocals, sonatas for keyboard, ten harpsichord concertos, eleven violin concertos and about thirty symphonies.

George entered the Jesuit gymnasium in Gitschin in 1735. The year before graduating (1742) he was made second violinist at the chapel of Frederick II [Frederick the Great of Prussia: Wikipedia] in Berlin. Upon leaving the gymnasium Benda began composing in Potsdam with his brother for a brief a time. His next employment was in 1749 as Kapellmeister to the Duke of Gotha, Frederick III, eldest son of Frederick II. The Duke provided him with the funds to study in Italy for a couple of years in 1764. Benda retired from Frederick's court in 1778 to travel about Europe, visiting such as Hamburg and Vienna until eventually settling down in Köstritz in Germany. Works by Benda below are not in chronological order. Though his dramatic works are readily dated, the remainder of his oeuvre could use a directory, were that possible, to organize musical works for which dates aren't so easily ascertained. We begin with instrumentals concerning which one can say only that they were likely composed sometime in the second half of the 18th century. We finish with a few dramatic works from Benda's mature period in the seventies.