View source for Franz Benda

{{Short description|Bohemian violinist and composer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{expand German|date=March 2023|topic=bio}}
[[File:Frantisek Benda 2.jpg|thumb|Franz Benda]]
'''Franz Benda''' ({{langx|cs|František Benda}}; baptised 22 November 1709 – 7 March 1786) was a [[Bohemia]]n [[violin]]ist and [[composer]], who worked for much of his life at the court of [[Frederick the Great]].
[[File:Benda birth house.jpg|thumb|Benda family house in [[Benátky nad Jizerou]], built 1706/07, demolished 1936.]]

==Life==
Benda was born in [[Benátky nad Jizerou|Old Benatek]] in [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemia]], the son of Jan Jiří Benda. His brother was the composer [[Georg Benda]]. Many of Benda's offspring ([[Maria Carolina Wolf]] (1742–1820), [[Friedrich Benda|Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Benda]] (1745–1814), [[Karl Hermann Heinrich Benda]] (1748–1836), [[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.<ref>{{Cite Americana|wstitle=Benda, Franz |year=1920}}</ref> He played about 50,000 concertos over a period of forty years.<ref>{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Benda, Franz |year=1905}}</ref> At Benda's request, Frederick allowed his parents and siblings to move to Potsdam when, as Protestants, they suffered religious persecution in [[Kingdom of Bohemia|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.<ref>[http://www.closelinks.com/facts.php?id=2179&name=Franz&surname=Benda Facts. Franz Benda]closelinks.com/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110113013839/http://www.closelinks.com/facts.php?id=2179&name=Franz&surname=Benda |date=13 January 2011 }}</ref>

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.

==Legacy==
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.

==Compositions==
{{Main|List of compositions by Franz Benda}}
Benda composed 17 symphonies, numerous concerti and sonatas for violin, and other chamber works.

== See also ==
* [[Benda (surname)]]
* [[Benda (disambiguation)|Benda]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{Cite Grove |last=Lee |first=Douglas A. |title=Franz Benda}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*[http://www.hoasm.org/XID/Benda.html Brief HOASM biography]
*[http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2002/Aug02/Benda_concertos.htm Review of disc with concertos by both brothers]
*{{IMSLP|Benda, Franz}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benda, Franz}}
[[Category:1709 births]]
[[Category:1786 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Benátky nad Jizerou]]
[[Category:Baroque composers from Bohemia]]
[[Category:Czech male classical composers]]
[[Category:Classical-period composers from Bohemia]]
[[Category:German classical composers]]
[[Category:German male classical composers]]
[[Category:Czech classical violinists]]
[[Category:German classical violinists]]
[[Category:Male classical violinists]]
[[Category:German male violinists]]
[[Category:18th-century classical composers from Bohemia]]
[[Category:18th-century German composers]]
[[Category:18th-century German male musicians]]
[[Category:18th-century violinists from the Holy Roman Empire]]