Benda: Chamber Music And Songs

Many listeners will be unfamiliar with the name Georg Anton Benda, but in his day this Bohemian Kapellmeister enjoyed international fame – chiefly on account of his opera Ariadne auf Naxos, a product of the melodrama that Benda was instrumental in developing and which influenced, among others, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Benda’s skill was not just limited to musical stage entertainment, however; attracting more than 2000 subscribers upon the publication of its first part, the Sammlung vermischter Clavierstücke für geübte und geübte Spieler quickly became a bestseller, an anthology containing keyboard music, chamber music with strings and vocal pieces. Benda belonged to a transitional period, which was full of innovations and attempts to be experimental, and the Sammlung does not full short of this mark; from the irregular, unpredictable vocal line of Jesus am Creuze’s recitativo to the witty drinking song whose two-bar recitativo leads to an unexpected keyboard sonata in the same key – a suggestion for public performance? – the set abounds in surprising twists and turns, making for a delightful source of entertainment.