Georg was the third son of Jan, a composer and violinist in the court of Frederick The Great. He became the Kappellmeister of Fredrich III where he began to compose cantatas. What became his best genre, and the one at which he was most talented, opera, was opposed by the clerics. Georg did compose the Itlian opera "Xindo riconnosciuto" for which he was given leave to Italy [the Duchess favored Italian opera]. When his church duties ended Georg began to compose Singspiels (German stage works or operas). Among those noted were "Ariadne auf Naxos," "Walder," "Romeo und Julie," "Pygmalion," and "Medea." Most of Benda's stage productions were melodramas and he was one of the first German composers to compose long scenes with music written throughout. ~ Keith Johnson, Rovi