Julius Benedict

Sir Julius Benedict ( born November 27, 1804 in Stuttgart, † June 5, 1885 in London) was a British composer and conductor of German origin.

Life

Born the son of a Jewish banker Moritz Benedict (1772-1852), he studied music and composition; initially in Stuttgart at Ludwig Abeille, later in Weimar Johann Nepomuk Hummel and Carl Maria von Weber, as its most talented student he was. In 1821 he studied in Berlin Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, with whom he entertained a lifelong friendship.

Upon recommendation by Carl Maria von Weber Benedict came in 1824 for the position of Music Director at Kärntnertortheater in Vienna. There he met several times with Ludwig van Beethoven and Weber accompanied his teacher when he visited Beethoven in Baden.

Two years later he moved in the same function according to the Naples Teatro San Carlo. Then he performed for several years as a pianist with varying residence in Germany and Paris. From 1835, he lived with few interruptions in London and worked as a conductor at different theaters. In 1837 and 1850, he wrote a piano concerto ever; both are clearly in the tradition of Hummel and combine virtuosity with delicate lyricism.

In 1850 he undertook as a companion of Jenny Lind a concert tour to America. After he returned to London in 1851, he entered the position of Kapellmeister at Covent Garden. In 1871 he was knighted and was allowed henceforth Sir Julius Benedict call. In the late 1870s he served as conductor of the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool. Benedict was the founder of the so-called popular in London Monday concerts (chamber music) and conductor of many great English music festivals.

In addition to numerous brilliant piano compositions and some church music works he composed a series of operas, most of which are first, Italian, written in Rossini shear manner; In 1838 he joined with " The gypsy 's warning" for composing English texts, more Weber then in style, and had so great success, such as " The Brides of Venice", 1844, " The Crusaders ", 1846, "The Bride of the song" and " The Rose of Erin " ("The lily of Killarney ," 1865, by far his most successful work ). He also wrote several choral works for music festivals. Until his death in 1885 he stood as an orchestral conductor and pianist in high esteem.

Works (selection)

Operas

  • The Lily of Killarney
  • The Crusaders
  • The Brides of Venice
  • The Portuguese in Goa

Operettas

  • The Bride of Song
  • Un anno e un giorno

Piano Concertos

  • No. 1 in C minor, Op 45 (1837 ) and No. 2 in E flat major, Op 89 ( 1850) (first recording 2008)
Josef Kriehuber Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart Hyperion Records Malcolm Sargent John Pritchard (conductor) Charles Groves Walter Weller David Atherton Marek Janowski Integrated Authority File
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