Jean Becker
Jean Becker was born in Mannheim, Germany, on May 11, 1833. Aloys Kettenus and Vincenz Lochner were his violin teachers. He was a prominent performing violinist in his time. In 1858, after conducting in Mannheim for a short while, he began touring Europe, finishing in Florence, Italy, where he decided to stay. He founded the Florentine Quartet, which became quite well known.
In one performance review, which included Schubert's Quartet in D minor, the reviewer wrote the following: " The first appearance of the distinguished violinist, so well known on the Continent as leader of one of the finest continental quartet parties...gave...interest to an attractive scheme. Herr Becker's playing in the Schubert Quartet showed at once how perfect is his mastery of the technique of his instrument, how reverent and sympathetic his interpretation of the great masters."
Amidst all of his touring, he composed a few short pieces for violin. He played a Stradivarius violin made in 1685. Dvořák dedicated his "Slavonic" String Quartet No. 10 in E Flat Major Op. 51 (1879) to him. His two sons Hugo and Hans became, respectively, a cellist and violinist. Becker died October 10, 1884.
I found this biographical information on worldlibrary.org (the exact same information was published on wikipedia.org too) and the review in "The Musical Standard: A Newspaper for Musicians, Professional, and Amateur" from 1881, which I accessed here. These websites were accessed June 23, 2016.
In one performance review, which included Schubert's Quartet in D minor, the reviewer wrote the following: " The first appearance of the distinguished violinist, so well known on the Continent as leader of one of the finest continental quartet parties...gave...interest to an attractive scheme. Herr Becker's playing in the Schubert Quartet showed at once how perfect is his mastery of the technique of his instrument, how reverent and sympathetic his interpretation of the great masters."
Amidst all of his touring, he composed a few short pieces for violin. He played a Stradivarius violin made in 1685. Dvořák dedicated his "Slavonic" String Quartet No. 10 in E Flat Major Op. 51 (1879) to him. His two sons Hugo and Hans became, respectively, a cellist and violinist. Becker died October 10, 1884.
I found this biographical information on worldlibrary.org (the exact same information was published on wikipedia.org too) and the review in "The Musical Standard: A Newspaper for Musicians, Professional, and Amateur" from 1881, which I accessed here. These websites were accessed June 23, 2016.
Gavotte (as published in Suzuki Book 3)
Jenny Yun, violin
pianist not listed
Jenny Yun, violin
pianist not listed