Born: June 13, 1834 - Quedlinburg, Germany
Died: January 10, 1899 - Berlin, Germany
Albert (Ernst Anton) Becker was a German composer of some distinction from of the Romantic period. He was first a pupil of Bönicke in Quedlinburg, studied composition in Berlin with Siegfried Wilhelm Dehn from 1853 to 1856.
Albert Becker became teacher of composition at Scharwenka's conservatorium in 1881, and in 1891 was appointed director of the Domchor. He taught composition at the Akademie der Künste. His most famous pupil was Jean Sibelius, who studied with him counterpoint from 1889 to 1890. In 1890 he became director of the Königlichen Hof- und Domchor. In 1892 he rejected an invitation by the Kaiser to become Thomaskantors in Leipzig as a follower of Wilhelm Rust.
Albert Becker's first great mark as a composer was made by his symphony in G minor, to which the prize of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna was awarded in 1861. In 1877 some of his songs, notably opp. 13 and 14, to words from Wolfi's Rattenfänger and Wilder Jager, attracted much attention and soon afterwards, in 1878, a Mass in B flat minor was produced by the Riedelsche Verein. Other important works are listed below. In sacred music, in which Albert Becker won his chief success, his style is broad and dignified, without losing sight of beauty and originality in his themes. In chamber music, a quintet for piano and strings, op. 49, is the most remarkable of his works; several pieces for violin and orchestra, such as op. 70 and op. 86, one very effective work for violin and organ, op. 66, a fantasia and fugue for organ, op. 52, and an opera, Loreley, in manuscript, may be mentioned.
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