Jul 24, 2015
Franz Ignaz Beck (1734–1809) was a member of the Mannheim school of
composers, based at the court of Mannheim in the mid-18th century.
The Mannheim orchestra was one of the largest and finest in Europe,
and the Mannheim school’s spearheading of developments in
orchestral style, technique and expression influenced symphonic
composers during the rest of the 18th century and well into the
nineteenth, including Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.
This new Naxos release features the Thirteen Strings Chamber
Orchestra conducted by Kevin Mallon in Beck’s Op. 2 set of six
symphonies. In this podcast, Rick Phillips reveals the importance
of Beck on the European musical scene and explains some of the
compositional techniques to be found in his Op. 2.