This Week in Classical Music: June 26, 2023.Jiří Benda Jiří Antonin Benda, who is better known by his Germanized name, Georg Anton Benda, came from an illustrious family of Bohemian musicians.His father, his mother’s family and four of his siblings were musicians.Jiří was born in Staré Benátky (now Benátky nad Jizerou), a village about 25 miles from Prague on June 30th of 1722.His older brother Franz (František) became a famous violinist and found employment with the Prussian Crown Prince Frederick who later became the King of Prussia Frederick II, known as the Great.In 1743 Franz helped his family move to Prussia whereJiříjoined his brother, the Kapellmeister, in the court orchestra.In 1750 Georg, as was by then his name, became Kapellmeister at the court of Duke Friedrich III of Saxe-Gotha.There he started composing cantatas and Italian operas.After several years at the court, the Duke allowed Benda to go to Italy and even provided him with the money for the trip.In Venice Benda met the famous opera composer Johann Adolph Hasse.He also visited Bologna, Florence and Rome, where he was introduced to the modern operas of Gluck, Galuppi and others.Upon returning from Italy in 1767, Benda composed several intermezzi (short comic operas) and one of a regular length.An important event happened in 1774: a famous theatrical troupe arrived in Gotha, and Abel Seyler, the director, commissioned Brenda a “melodrama,” a staged dramatic work somewhat similar to opera but with the text being spoken rather than sung.His first melodrama, Ariadne auf Naxos, was very successful.The second melodrama, Medea, followed shortly after.Benda then composed several operas, Romeo und Julie among them.He left Gotha in 1778 to live in Hamburg and Vienna, but after failing to receive important court appointments, he returned to Gotha a year later.He retired soon after and lived on a small pension in the village of Köstritz nearby but traveled once in a while, even going to Paris to stage Ariadne at the theater Comédie-Italienne.Benda died in Köstritz on November 6th of 1795.
As far as we can tell, Ariadne auf Naxos and Medea are the best pieces of music Benda has written.Mozart enjoyed Benda’s melodramas and in a letter to his father called them “very excellent,” adding “I like those two works of his so much that I carry them about with me.”The problem with them as a genre is that it doesn’t really work.Melodramas consist of short bursts of music, usually no longer than a minute, often of very high quality, interspersed with spoken text.The text breaks down the music’s development ark, and the text begs for a melody.No wonder it didn’t take long foropera to completely replaced the melodrama.Still, we think it’s very much worth a try.Here’s Ariadne auf Naxos.Some of the music is quite Mozartean – no wonder Wolfgang liked it.The Prague Chamber Orchestra is conducted by Christian Benda, the composer’s descendant. Ariadne is about 40 minutes long; if you want a shorter sample, even if the music is not on the same level, here’s a scene from Romeo und Julie.Michael Schneider leads La Stagione Frankfurt and the soloists in a four-minute excerpt from Act III of the opera.
Also, June 26th is the birthday of one of our favorite conductors, Claudio Abbado.He was born 90 years ago in Milan.
Georg Benda, 2023
This Week in Classical Music: June 26, 2023. Jiří Benda Jiří Antonin Benda, who is better known by his Germanized name, Georg Anton Benda, came from an illustrious family of
Bohemian musicians. His father, his mother’s family and four of his siblings were musicians. Jiří was born in Staré Benátky (now Benátky nad Jizerou), a village about 25 miles from Prague on June 30th of 1722. His older brother Franz (František) became a famous violinist and found employment with the Prussian Crown Prince Frederick who later became the King of Prussia Frederick II, known as the Great. In 1743 Franz helped his family move to Prussia where Jiříjoined his brother, the Kapellmeister, in the court orchestra. In 1750 Georg, as was by then his name, became Kapellmeister at the court of Duke Friedrich III of Saxe-Gotha. There he started composing cantatas and Italian operas. After several years at the court, the Duke allowed Benda to go to Italy and even provided him with the money for the trip. In Venice Benda met the famous opera composer Johann Adolph Hasse. He also visited Bologna, Florence and Rome, where he was introduced to the modern operas of Gluck, Galuppi and others. Upon returning from Italy in 1767, Benda composed several intermezzi (short comic operas) and one of a regular length. An important event happened in 1774: a famous theatrical troupe arrived in Gotha, and Abel Seyler, the director, commissioned Brenda a “melodrama,” a staged dramatic work somewhat similar to opera but with the text being spoken rather than sung. His first melodrama, Ariadne auf Naxos, was very successful. The second melodrama, Medea, followed shortly after. Benda then composed several operas, Romeo und Julie among them. He left Gotha in 1778 to live in Hamburg and Vienna, but after failing to receive important court appointments, he returned to Gotha a year later. He retired soon after and lived on a small pension in the village of Köstritz nearby but traveled once in a while, even going to Paris to stage Ariadne at the theater Comédie-Italienne. Benda died in Köstritz on November 6th of 1795.
As far as we can tell, Ariadne auf Naxos and Medea are the best pieces of music Benda has written. Mozart enjoyed Benda’s melodramas and in a letter to his father called them “very excellent,” adding “I like those two works of his so much that I carry them about with me.” The problem with them as a genre is that it doesn’t really work. Melodramas consist of short bursts of music, usually no longer than a minute, often of very high quality, interspersed with spoken text. The text breaks down the music’s development ark, and the text begs for a melody. No wonder it didn’t take long foropera to completely replaced the melodrama. Still, we think it’s very much worth a try. Here’s Ariadne auf Naxos. Some of the music is quite Mozartean – no wonder Wolfgang liked it. The Prague Chamber Orchestra is conducted by Christian Benda, the composer’s descendant. Ariadne is about 40 minutes long; if you want a shorter sample, even if the music is not on the same level, here’s a scene from Romeo und Julie. Michael Schneider leads La Stagione Frankfurt and the soloists in a four-minute excerpt from Act III of the opera.
Also, June 26th is the birthday of one of our favorite conductors, Claudio Abbado. He was born 90 years ago in Milan.