Benda, Georg Anton (actually, Jirí Antonín)

Benda, Georg Anton (actually, Jirí Antonín), important Bohemian composer, brother of Franz (Františele) and father of Friedrich Ludwig Benda; b. Alt-Benatek (baptized), June 30, 1722; d. Köstritz, Nov. 6, 1795. He studied at the Jesuit college in Jicin (1739–42), and then was a chamber musician in Berlin (1742–49). In 1750 he was appointed Kapellmeister to Duke Friedrich III of Saxe-Gotha. In 1765 he received a ducal stipend to go to Italy for half a year of study; he then resumed his activities at the court of Duke Friedrich III, becoming Kapellmeister again in 1770. He was in hamburg and Vienna (1778–79), and then resigned his post; eventually he went to Köstritz. His works were distinguished for their dramatic use of rapidly alternating moods (“Affekte”) , which became a characteristic trait of the North German school of composition and exercised considerable influence on the development of opera and ballad forms in Germany; his effective use of melodrama (spoken recitative accompanied by orch.) was an important innovation.