Beck: Six Symphonies, Op. 1

MUSICWEB BEST RECORDINGS OF THE YEAR (2005)

"The recording is well-balanced and was produced by Stephen Managh, the founder of the orchestra who, sadly, did not live to see the disc issued. This CD is recommended to anyone interested in the origins of the symphony and to collectors of worthwhile little-known music"
(MusicWeb Aug 2005)

"Praise is certainly due to the excellent New Zealand Chamber Orchestra and its conductor Donald Armstrong who, not content with generalized sightreading-plus, has evidently worked hard over dynamic shading. A fine recording and useful notes by Allan Badley (on which I have drawn considerably) complete a commendable issue."
(MusicWeb Sept 2005)

When Franz Beck composed his first symphonies, some time around the mid-1750s, the genre was in its infancy but it was by no means primitive. The most famous exponent of the symphony, The most famous exponent of the symphony, Johann Stamitz, director of the famous Mannheim court orchestra and, coincidentally, Beck's teacher, had not only raised it to new levels of technical sophistication but, together with a number of his gifted colleagues, had also evolved a new and distinctive style of writing for orchestra. Stamitz's symphonies were immensely popular, particularly in France. They circulated in both printed editions and in manuscript parts, exerting a profound if localised influence on the development of the symphony. The presence of Stamitz, Richter, Holzbauer, Filtz and others at the Mannheim court created a unique musical environment that must have been intoxicating to a young and ambitious composer like Beck.

Beck began his musical studies with his father, Johann Aloys, Rektor of the Choral School at the Palatinate Court in Mannheim. He studied violin, double bass and organ, among other instruments, and displayed such impressive talents that the Elector Carl Theodor undertook responsibility for his education. If the account of Beck's pupil Blanchard is to be believed, the young musician had to flee Mannheim after fighting a duel with a jealous rival and believing that he had killed him. Many years later, the story goes, he learned that he had been the victim of a hoax - his opponent had only feigned death. This version of events is not universally accepted and it has also been claimed that Beck left Mannheim in rather less sensational fashion in order to study with Baldassare Galuppi in Venice. Whatever the circumstances of his departure, Beck certainly did live in Venice for several years, for it was from there that he eloped to Naples with Anna Oniga, his employer's daughter. After his eventful sojourn in Italy Beck moved to Marseilles and became leader of a theatre orchestra. Although the date of his arrival in France is uncertain he must have been well-known by reputation at least by the late 1750s since four sets of symphonies were published in rapid succession by Parisian firms, beginning with the present set which appeared in 1758. The title page of the six Op. 1 Symphonies ('Sei Overture') describe him as 'Chamber Virtuoso to the Elector Palatine and pupil of Johann Stamitz'; the Op. 3 title page adds 'and currently first violin of the Concert in Marseilles'.

Beck moved from Marseilles to Bordeaux, where he was appointed conductor of the Grand Théâtre. His theatre duties were combined with composing and teaching. Among his most prominent pupils were Pierre Gaveaux, Blanchard and Boscha. In October 1774 he was appointed organist at St Seurin, Bordeaux, where his improvisations were widely admired. Among the most important works of the pre-Revolutionary period is the magnificent Stabat Mater, which was given its first performance at Versailles. Like a number of other prominent composers Beck appears to have had little difficulty adjusting to the new regime and produced a substantial number of patriotic works including a Hymne à l'être suprême. In 1803 he was appointed correspondent of music composition for the Institute of France.