BECK, Franz Ignaz

Born in Mannheim, Feb 20, 1734
Died in Bordeaux, Dec 31, 1809

• Beck was a German composer, conductor, violinist and organist, who studied with Johann Stamitz.¹
  • Johann Stamitz was director of the Mannheim orchestra, which pioneered the genre of Symphony. Beck was one of the first composers in this new genre.
• Weird Anecdote: According to one of his students, Beck’s studies with Stamitz ended abruptly when he got into a duel, thought he killed his opponent, and fled to Italy, only to meet the man he supposedly killed a year later – apparently the duel opponent faked his own death.²
• Beck spent most of his career in France, directing theater orchestras and working as a church organist.³
• Beck managed to maintain his career during the French Revolution, composing patriotic music and gaining recognition from First French Republic government under Napoleon Bonaparte. ⁴

Short biography from Naxos

1. Allan Bradley, liner notes to Franz Ignaz Beck: Six Symphonies, Op. 1, New Zealand Chamber Orchestra, Donald Armstrong, Naxos 8.554071, CD, 2001.
2. Anneliese Downs and Philippe Vendrix, “Beck, Franz [François] Ignaz,” Grove Music Online (Oxford University Press, 2001), accessed July 22, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000002465.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.