Johann H Beck

Johann Heinrich Beck was an American conductor, composer and violinist, born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1856 and who died in the same city in 1924. Trained at the Leipzig Conservatory between 1879 and 1882, he made his European debut as a violinist at the Gewandhaus in that city, performing a string quartet of his own composition in C minor. His career belongs to the musical life of late nineteenth-century North America, when American composers who had studied in Europe sought to establish themselves in their home cities.

Back in Cleveland, Beck founded the Schubert String Quartet in 1877, later adding the Beck String Quartet, and gave concerts frequently during the 1880s and 1890s. From 1878 he also worked as a conductor, and between 1895 and 1896 he directed the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, as well as local Cleveland orchestras in the early years of the twentieth century. According to contemporary reviews, his own works were well received when he conducted them.

As for his legacy, only one of his works was ever published: the Elegiac Song, Op. 4 No. 1. Much of his output survives in manuscript, and an extensive collection of his papers is held at the Cleveland Public Library. He also took part in national and state associations of music teachers.