Dora Valesca Becker

Dora Valesca Becker (March 7, 1870 – May 19, 1958) was an American violinist. In 1898, she became the first female violinist to play on a musical recording.

Dora Valesca Becker
A white woman, standing, wearing a white lacy gown with bare shoulders; she is holding a violin under her right arm, and a bow in her right hand. The background is dark.
Dora Valesca Becker, from a 1908 publication
Born(1870-03-07)March 7, 1870
Galveston, Texas
DiedMay 19, 1958(1958-05-19) (aged 88)
Pennsylvania
NationalityAmerican
Other namesDora Valeska Becker, Dora V. Becker, Dora Becker Shaffer
OccupationViolinist

Early life

Dora Valesca Becker was born in Galveston, Texas and raised in New York, the daughter of Francis Louis Becker and Maria Antonia Tekla Langhammer. Her father was conductor of the Galveston Singing Society, and her mother also had musical ambitions.[1] She studied violin from an early age with Sam Franko and made her first appearance at Steinway Hall in 1880, aged 10 years. She studied with Joseph Joachim in Berlin as a young woman, on a Felix Mendelssohn scholarship.[2]

Her brother Gustav Louis Becker (1861–1959) was a pianist, composer, and arranger.[3]

Career

Becker returned to the United States after making her debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1890,[4] and began the New York Ladies' Trio with pianist Mabel Phipps and cellist Flavie Van den Hende.[5][6] She became the first woman violinist to play on a musical recording in 1898, when she performed Henryk Wieniawski's "Mazurka Kujawiak" for a Bettini Phonograph Laboratory wax cylinder recording.[2][7]

She mostly left the concert stage in 1899,[2] except for occasional accompaniment appearances and recitals.[8][9][10] She traveled and played in Europe in 1908.[11][12] After marriage, she lectured and taught music in New York and New Jersey, and was a member of the New York State Teachers' Association, the Newark Musicians' Club, and the Newark Contemporary Club.

Personal life

In 1899, Becker married organist Charles Grant Shaffer.[13][14] She died in 1958, aged 88 years, in Pennsylvania.

References
  1. Reddall, Frederic (August 1895). "American Girls as Violinists". The Ladies' Home Journal. 12: 3.
  2. Eschbach, Robert (November 6, 2014). "The first woman violinist on record. Any guesses?". Slipped Disc. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  3. "Gustav Louis Becker (Arranger) – Short Biography". Bach Cantatas. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  4. Ammer, Christine (2001). Unsung: A History of Women in American Music. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-57467-061-5.
  5. "New York Ladies' Trio in Detroit". Musical Courier. 36: 35. January 12, 1898.
  6. "College News". Vassar Miscellany. April 1, 1897. pp. 384–385. Retrieved December 4, 2019 – via Vassar Newspaper Archives.
  7. Hoffmann, Frank (November 12, 2004). Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-94950-1.
  8. "Dora Becker in Newark". The Violin World: 39. April 1915.
  9. "Dora Becker in Recitals". The Violin World: 6. February 1915.
  10. "Dora Becker Pleases at Paterson". Musical Courier: 12. May 10, 1917.
  11. "Dora Becker Back from Europe". Musical Courier: 7. September 23, 1908.
  12. "Dora Becker, Gifted American Violinist". Musical Courier: 6. September 30, 1908.
  13. International Who's who in Music and Musical Gazetteer. Current Literature Publishing Company. 1918. p. 585.
  14. "Violin and Organ Recital". Lewisburg Journal. November 27, 1903. p. 5. Retrieved December 4, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
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