A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Becher, Alfred

BECHER, Alfred Julius, born of German parents at Manchester, 1803; educated at Heidelberg, Göttingen, and Berlin. His life was one of perpetual movement and adventure. Before he was 40 he had lived in Elberfeld, Cologne, Düsseldorf, the Hague, and London, had practised as an advocate, edited a mercantile newspaper, and twice filled the post of Professor of Composition. But whatever else he did he was always faithful to music. In 1841 his wanderings came to an end in Vienna, and at the instance of Mendelssohn he took up musical criticism, in which he was very successful, associating himself with the 'Wiener Musik-Zeitung' and the 'Sontagsblättern.' He was equally enthusiastic for the old masters and for Berlioz. In 1848 he threw himself into politics as a violent democrat, became editor of the 'Radikale,' was tried by court martial and shot on Nov. 23, 1848, in the Stadtgraben of Vienna. Becher published songs, sonatas, and pianoforte pieces, many of which became favourites. He composed a symphony, a violoncello fantasia (performed at a concert at which he had the aid of Jenny Lind), and string quartets. But these, though full of ability and intelligence, never made any impression on the public. Becher's literary works were almost entirely fugitive, but he published a biography of Jenny Lind (1846).

[ C. F. P. ]