Franz Ignaz Beck was
born into a musical family in Mannheim,
where the nascent symphony of Johann
Stamitz (Beck's teacher), Franz Xaver
Richter and others was breezing away
the last vestiges of the baroque. According
to legend Beck fled Mannheim after fighting
a duel in which he believed he had killed
his rival - only much later did he learn
that it had been a hoax. He ended up
in Venice where he studied with Baldassare
Galuppi, eloping to Naples with his
employer's daughter a few years later.
By the end of the 1750s he was in Marseilles
and he remained in France for the rest
of his life, becoming conductor of the
Grand Théâtre of Bordeaux,
organist of St. Seurin of the same city
in 1774 and correspondent of musical
composition for the Institute of France
in 1803.
Beck's first set of symphonies was
published in Paris in 1758; three others
quickly followed. His interest in the
symphony then ceased; later works include
stage pieces, a much-praised Stabat
Mater first performed at Versailles
(1783) and revolutionary music such
as the "Hymne à l'être
supreme". It is not known whether
the op. 1 symphonies were written in
Mannheim, Italy or France, but their
use of strings only, with continuo,
ignoring the fuller orchestral effects
being developed in Mannheim, suggests
Italy even though the style does not.
The Concise Grove tells us that Beck's
symphonies show such progressive traits
as independent wind parts and four movements,
so it sounds as if the other three sets
must be somewhat different.
These symphonies belong to that nether
world between the demise of the baroque
and the beginning of the great Austrian-German
symphonic flowering - although Haydn
was two years older than Beck his career
as a symphonist was just about to begin
when Beck published his first set. They
certainly do not sound at all baroque,
but nor do they contain particular premonitions
of Haydn and Mozart. Their style might
be described as galante with dramatic
incursions - Beck had a liking for sudden
tremolo eruptions. His themes are short-breathed
but with enough unexpected turns to
avoid banality. His first movements
manage to present a surprisingly wide
range of material in an extremely well-organized
manner. I thought the sprightly, syncopated
first movement of no. 2 particularly
fetching. An initial impression that
the slow movements were blander was
dispelled by those of nos. 4 and 5 which
are rather striking. The brief finales
(the longest lasts 2 minutes 38 seconds)
are just spirited pay-offs, but overall
the set is sufficiently rewarding to
suggest that further exploration of
Beck may be in order. Apart from the
other sets of symphonies it would be
interesting to hear the lauded Stabat
Mater.
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.
Christopher Howell
see also review
by Patrick Waller
New Zealand Chamber Orchestra/Donald Armstrong
