Hans von Benda
Encyclopedia
Hans von Benda was a German conductor.
A direct descendant of the eighteenth-century composer Franz Benda
, he had the misfortune to operate in the shadow of better-known Teutonic maestri of his generation, notably Wilhelm Furtwängler
, Otto Klemperer
, and Hans Knappertsbusch
. After serving as musical director of Berlin Radio from 1926 to 1934, Benda became (1935) artistic director of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
, during Furtwängler's tenure as chief conductor. He held this post till 1939. Meanwhile he conducted the Berlin Chamber Orchestra, which he had founded in 1932, and with which he toured Australia, South America and Asia as well as Europe.
Unlike Furtwängler and Knappertsbusch (or Klemperer, who had fled Germany shortly aftert Hitler gained power), Benda joined the National Socialist Partyhttp://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:WFBK9cplpa8J:www.furtwangler.net/doc/45-47en.rtf+%22Hans+von+Benda%22+%2B+conductor+%2B+Furtwangler&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=au, possibly through fear that the regime would regard his Czech lineage as insufficiently Aryan. That his party card brought a certain amount of foreign obloquy on his head is indicated by the fact that (according to John L. Holmes' Conductors on Record) a pre-war recording Benda conducted of music by Gluck was issued in America without his name on the label. After World War II, Benda gave evidence during Furtwängler's denazification proceedings, avowing that Furtwängler had protected Jews from official persecution.http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/sept01/Third_Reich.htm Having worked in Spain from 1948 to 1952, Benda was subsequently employed at Radio Free Berlin (1954-1958).
Benda had a long recording career, lasting from the 1930s till 1968. Composers in his large discography include Bach
, Vivaldi, Handel
, Haydn, Mozart père
and fils, Schubert
, Dvořák
, Respighi
, C. P. E. Bach, Frederick the Great, Johann Adolf Hasse, Johann Joachim Quantz
, Carl Heinrich Graun
, and his own collateral ancestor Georg Benda
. His conducting on disc tended towards a hefty, straightforward style wholly at odds with Furtwängler's and Knappertsbusch's improvisational unpredictability.
A direct descendant of the eighteenth-century composer Franz Benda
Franz Benda
Franz Benda was a Czech violinist and composer. He was the brother of Jiří Antonín Benda, and he worked for much of his life at the court of Frederick the Great....
, he had the misfortune to operate in the shadow of better-known Teutonic maestri of his generation, notably Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler was a German conductor and composer. He is widely considered to have been one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. By the 1930s he had built a reputation as one of the leading conductors in Europe, and he was the leading conductor who remained...
, Otto Klemperer
Otto Klemperer
Otto Klemperer was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the leading conductors of the 20th century.-Biography:Otto Klemperer was born in Breslau, Silesia Province, then in Germany...
, and Hans Knappertsbusch
Hans Knappertsbusch
Hans Knappertsbusch was a German conductor, best known for his performances of the music of Richard Wagner, Anton Bruckner and Richard Strauss....
. After serving as musical director of Berlin Radio from 1926 to 1934, Benda became (1935) artistic director of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
The Berlin Philharmonic, German: , formerly Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester , is an orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. In 2006, a group of ten European media outlets voted the Berlin Philharmonic number three on a list of "top ten European Orchestras", after the Vienna Philharmonic and the...
, during Furtwängler's tenure as chief conductor. He held this post till 1939. Meanwhile he conducted the Berlin Chamber Orchestra, which he had founded in 1932, and with which he toured Australia, South America and Asia as well as Europe.
Unlike Furtwängler and Knappertsbusch (or Klemperer, who had fled Germany shortly aftert Hitler gained power), Benda joined the National Socialist Partyhttp://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:WFBK9cplpa8J:www.furtwangler.net/doc/45-47en.rtf+%22Hans+von+Benda%22+%2B+conductor+%2B+Furtwangler&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=au, possibly through fear that the regime would regard his Czech lineage as insufficiently Aryan. That his party card brought a certain amount of foreign obloquy on his head is indicated by the fact that (according to John L. Holmes' Conductors on Record) a pre-war recording Benda conducted of music by Gluck was issued in America without his name on the label. After World War II, Benda gave evidence during Furtwängler's denazification proceedings, avowing that Furtwängler had protected Jews from official persecution.http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/sept01/Third_Reich.htm Having worked in Spain from 1948 to 1952, Benda was subsequently employed at Radio Free Berlin (1954-1958).
Benda had a long recording career, lasting from the 1930s till 1968. Composers in his large discography include Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
, Vivaldi, Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
, Haydn, Mozart père
Leopold Mozart
Johann Georg Leopold Mozart was a German composer, conductor, teacher, and violinist. Mozart is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule.-Childhood and student years:He was born in Augsburg, son of...
and fils, Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
, Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
, Respighi
Ottorino Respighi
Ottorino Respighi was an Italian composer, musicologist and conductor. He is best known for his orchestral "Roman trilogy": Fountains of Rome ; Pines of Rome ; and Roman Festivals...
, C. P. E. Bach, Frederick the Great, Johann Adolf Hasse, Johann Joachim Quantz
Johann Joachim Quantz
Johann Joachim Quantz was a German flutist, flute maker and composer.-Biography:Quantz was born in Oberscheden, near Göttingen, Germany, and died in Potsdam....
, Carl Heinrich Graun
Carl Heinrich Graun
Carl Heinrich Graun was a German composer and tenor singer. Along with Johann Adolf Hasse, he is considered to be the most important German composer of Italian opera of his time.-Biography:...
, and his own collateral ancestor Georg Benda
Georg Benda
Jiří Antonín Benda, also Georg Anton Benda or J.A. Benda was a Czech kapellmeister, violinist and composer of the classical period.-Biography:...
. His conducting on disc tended towards a hefty, straightforward style wholly at odds with Furtwängler's and Knappertsbusch's improvisational unpredictability.
Further reading
- John L. Holmes (1982). Conductors on Record. London: Gollancz. ISBN 0-575-02781-9.