Becker, (Jean Otto Eric) Hugo

Becker, (Jean Otto Eric) Hugo, notable German cellist and pedagogue, son of Jean Becker; b. Strasbourg, Feb. 13, 1863; d. Geiselgasteig, July 30, 1941. After training from his father, he studied with Kanut Kündinger in Mannheim and Friedrich Grützmacher and Karl Hess in Dresden. He completed his studies with Alfredo Piatti. From 1884 to 1886 he was principal cellist in the orch. of the Frankfurt am Main Opera. He was a member of the Heermann String Quartet from 1890 to 1906, and from 1895 he also served as a prof. at the Frankfurt am Main Hoschule für Musik. Becker played in trios with many artists, including Daniel Quast and Willy Hess, Ernst von Dohnányi and Henri Marteau, Ferruccio Busoni and Eugene Ysayë, and Artur Schnabel and Carl Flesch. In 1902 he became a prof. at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm. From 1909 to 1929 he was prof. of cello at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik. He composed a Cello Concerto (1898) and variations and études for the cello. He also publ. Mechanik und Ästhetik des Violoncellspiels (Vienna, 1929).