Franz Ignaz Beck
About the composer
Franz Ignaz Beck was born in 1734 in Mannheim, Germany. He studied violin and several other instruments and was a pupil of Johann Stamitz.
He stayed for some time in Venice, which he appears to have left in a hurry with his employers daughter and in Naples, which he appears to have left in a hurry after a duel.
In the late 1750’s he then settles in France, first in Marseilles and finally in Bordeaux. In both cities he became leader of a theater orchestra and in 1774 he was appointed organist at St.Seurin cathedral.
He became renowned for his improvisational powers and published several sets of keyboard works and more than 20 symphonies. He traveled to Paris to attend the premiere of his Stabat Mater in Versailles where Marie Antoinette expressed her admiration for this work. Beck seemed to have adjusted easily to the new revolutionary regime in view of some patriotic music that he has written.
Beck died 31 December 1809 in Bordeaux, France.
About the Stabat Mater
| Date: | 1783 |
| Performers: | 2 Soprano's, Alto, Tenor, Bass, Mixed Choir and Orchestra |
| Length: | 60.47 minutes |
| Particulars: | The Stabat Mater is divided in 13 parts and is described as an oratorio. Most important are the four extended choruses, especially the last one, where a fugue on the word "Amen" is seen as proof of the contrapuntal mastery of Beck. |
| Textual variations: | The "Analecta"-version of the text is used without any changes, but stanza 12 is omitted. |
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Information about the recording
| CD1: | Koch-Schwann 3-6583-2: Musica Sacra, Franz Ignaz Beck, Stabat Mater |
| More info: | Registration of a concert on May 21, 1999, in the Gedächtniskirche in Speyer, Germany, during the Schwetzinger Festspiele. I bought this CD in a record shop in the Netherlands, 1999. |
| Orchestra: | La Stagione Frankfurt |
| Choir: | SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart |
| Conductor: | Michael Schneider |
| Soloists: | Sandrine Piau, soprano |
| Code: | 1999 (BEC 01) |
| CD2: | CD Stabat Mater Foundation 2016: Rosseau and Beck |
| More info: | This cd is a recording of a concert performed on March 13, 2016 in the St. Petrus church at Oirschot. The CD is produced by the Stabat Mater Foundation. |
| Orchestra: | Mannheimer Hofkapella |
| Choir: | Choir Ex Temopore |
| Conductor: | Florian Heyerick |
| Other works: | Norbert Rosseau, Stabat Mater |
| Code: | 2016 ROSS-01 |
