Karl Benda was the younger of two sons of the violinist and composer
Franz Benda. His godparents were the margraves
Friedrich Heinrich (Brandenburg-Schwedt) and
Karl Friedrich Albrecht von Brandenburg-Schwedt as well as the Russian envoy
Hermann Carl von Keyserlingk. Like his sisters Wilhelmine,
Maria Carolina, Sophie Anna Henriette,
Juliane and his brother
Friedrich, he received music lessons from his father Franz Benda. In 1766, Karl was accepted in the
Hofkapelle. As a violin virtuoso, especially in his performance of adagios, Karl Benda closely resembled his father. They were also said to be similar in character, stature and physiognomy. He was also a prized piano teacher; among his students were King
Friedrich Wilhelm III as well as his brother
Ludwig, who gave him a lifelong patronage. Other students of Karl Benda were
Carl Friedrich Rungenhagen, the actor and singer and the singer Luise Rudorff, whom he saw performing in the
Weimarer Hoftheater in 1792, when he was visiting his sisters Wilhelmine and Maria Carolina. Karl Benda was also accompanist at the Royal Opera in Berlin. In 1802, he became successor to his deceased uncle
Joseph Benda, who was a concertmaster at the Hofkapelle in Berlin.
Descendants In 1777, Karl Benda married a daughter of the war minister
Friedrich August Barth, with whom he had a son August Wilhelm Heinrich Ferdinand (1779–1861). On 28 April 1825, while employed as Kammerdirektor for the princes of
Thurn und Taxis, he was raised to the nobility by the Bavarian King. Descendants of Wilhelm von Benda's include the MP and landlord Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Robert von Benda (1816–1899), the officer Hans Robert Heinrich von Benda (1856–1919) as well as the officer and conductor
Hans Gustav Robert von Benda (1888–1972), who was assigned to write Franz Lorenz's biography
Die Musikerfamilie Benda with documents and photos from his private collection. After the death of his first wife, Karl Benda married the daughter of Freytag, a renowned cloth maker from Potsdam, with whom he had a son Friedrich August Benda (1786–1854). The latter also pursued a career in higher civil service and was a committed patron of music on the board of several societies, including the
Sing-Akademie zu Berlin. == See also ==