Dietrich Becker (composer)

Dietrich Becker (* around 1623 in Hamburg ; † 1679 there ), also known as Diedrich or Diederus Becker, was a German composer and violinist .

Life

Little is known about his musical studies. He got his first job in 1642 as an organist in Ahrensburg . In 1654 and 1655 he worked in the chapel of Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie near Stockholm . In the court orchestra of Duke Christian Ludwig in Celle, from 1656 he mainly devoted himself to playing the violin. In 1661 he asked for leave of absence in order to gain more knowledge in his profession in Hamburg or Lübeck . He settled in Hamburg in 1662 and was registered there as a musician in the civil register. He joined the Ratskapelle as a violinist and was listed there as solo violinist in 1665. After Johann Schop's death in 1667, he was appointed Kapellmeister. In gratitude, he dedicated his “Musical Spring Fruits” from 1668 to the mayors and councilors of the city. Becker's chamber music is one of the most important works of German instrumental music of that era.

Work (selection)

In addition to several sacred concerts , sacred and secular songs, including a collection of excerpts of a number of sacred songs for the Zucht-Haus in Hamburg, a funeral and funeral music Bey Highly prestigious Christian burial of Mr. Johann Helms, councilor ... , Becker composed numerous instrumental works.

• Sonatas on choral songs for violin, viola da gamba and B. c. (Hamburg, 1668, lost)
• Musical spring fruits 3 to 5-part sonatas and suites (Hamburg, 1667), as Musicalische Lent-Vruchten (Antwerp, 1673)
• First part of two-part sonatas and suites for 1-2 violins and B. c. (Hamburg, 1674)
• Other part of two-part sonatas and suites (Hamburg, 1679, lost)
• Sonata del Sgr Becker for violin, viola and B. c., In a London composite manuscript
• 5 four-part sonatas and suites, preserved in the autograph
• 25 dance movements by Diederus Becker in a collective manuscript from Dresden, owned by the Saxon State Library, originally from the Oels Castle Library in Silesia.

literature

• Heike Angermann: Diedrich Becker, musician. Approaching a musician and his time. 2013 ( online) (PDF; 2.3 MB)
• Heinz Becker:  Becker, Dietrich. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1953, ISBN 3-428-00182-6 , p. 714 ( digitized version ).

Web links

• Publications by and about Dietrich Becker in VD 17 .
• Works by and about Dietrich Becker in the catalog of the German National Library
• Facsimile of the “two-part sonatas and suites” in the Royal Library, Copenhagen
• Sheet music and audio files by Dietrich Becker in the International Music Score Library Project
• Sonatas and suites at musescore