Franz Benda (Czech: František Benda) baptised 22
November 1709, Benátky nad Jizerou – 7 March 1786,
Potsdam) was a Bohemian violinist and composer, who
worked for much of his life at the court of Frederick
the Great. He was born in Old Benatek in Bohemia, the
son of Jan Jiří Benda. His brother was the
composer Georg Benda. Benda's daughter Juliane
Reichardt (1752–1783) and his granddaughter Louise
Reichardt (1779–1826) were also composers. Benda
wrote his autobiography in 1763: it ...(+)
Franz Benda (Czech: František Benda) baptised 22
November 1709, Benátky nad Jizerou – 7 March 1786,
Potsdam) was a Bohemian violinist and composer, who
worked for much of his life at the court of Frederick
the Great. He was born in Old Benatek in Bohemia, the
son of Jan Jiří Benda. His brother was the
composer Georg Benda. Benda's daughter Juliane
Reichardt (1752–1783) and his granddaughter Louise
Reichardt (1779–1826) were also composers. Benda
wrote his autobiography in 1763: it not only gives a
detailed account of his own life but also a valuable
record of the lives of other musicians whom he
encountered during his career.
In his youth Benda was a chorister in Prague and
afterward in the Chapel Royal at Dresden. At the same
time he began to study the violin, and soon joined a
company of strolling musicians who attended fetes,
fairs, etc. At eighteen years of age Benda abandoned
this wandering life and returned to Prague, going to
Vienna, where he pursued his study of the violin under
Johann Gottlieb Graun, a pupil of Tartini. After two
years he was appointed chapel master at Warsaw. In
1732, he entered the service of Frederick the Great,
then crown prince of Prussia, with whom he remained the
rest of his life. He was a member of the crown prince's
orchestra, and later became concertmaster to the king.
He played about 50,000 concertos over a period of forty
years. At Benda's request, Frederick allowed his
parents and siblings to move to Potsdam when, as
Protestants, they suffered religious persecution in
Bohemia.
Benda was a master of all the difficulties of violin
playing, and the rapidity of his execution and the
mellow sweetness of his highest notes were unequalled.
He had many pupils and wrote a number of works, chiefly
exercises and studies for the violin. He composed 17
symphonies, numerous concerti and sonatas for violin,
and other chamber works.
Benda died in the Nowawes, a small colony near Potsdam
set up by Frederick the Great to house Protestant
refugees fleeing religious persecution in Bohemia.
Descendants of Benda also continue in the same musical
line. In the 20th century, František Benda was a
composer of film scores and other works. The Benda
Chamber Orchestra, which carries and honours the name
of the Benda musical family, was founded in 1956 in
Ústí nad Labem, Northern Bohemia (Czech Republic).
One of his descendants, Jean Sebastian Benda, acclaimed
Swiss pianist, lived in Brazil, having married the
pianist Luzia Benda. After his return to Europe, in
1981, along with his wife and children born in Brazil,
his family follows the musical tradition of their
ancestors. .
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Benda).
Although originally composed for Oboe & Basso Continuo,
I created this Interpretation of the Sonata in Bb Major
(LeeB III-156 Mvts 1 & 2) for Oboe & Strings (2
Violins, Viola & Cello).
SHEET MUSIC