Becker (J.Becker) () is a Russian company and factory founded by a German piano maker Jakob Becker.
The company was engaged in the production of musical instruments, such as: upright piano, grand piano.
History
In 1841, a factory was opened in St. Petersburg, founded by Jakob Becker. The factory has come a long way, becoming widely known for its instruments throughout the Russian Empire and beyond. In 1839 he received a patent from the King of Bavaria for a grand piano and a quadrangular piano, in which the strings were located under the resonant soundboard, and metal was used in the design of the pin block, in addition to wood.
Initially, the company was a modest workshop that produced 20 musical instruments a year. Factory was located on Italianskaya Street (now Rakov Street).
Around the mid-1840s, one of the St. Petersburg magazines wrote:
The factory was different from other piano companies, as all stages of the construction of future instruments were divided into several areas and parts. The factory had several steam engines for working wood, iron, and brass, a department for assembling mechanical, partly imported parts, and other indications of the modern division of labor.
In the early 50s, Becker pianos attracted the attention of F.V. Bulgarin, who published a letter from the Polish pianist A. Kontsky to J. Becker in his newspaper Severnaya Pchela:
From 1854, Becker's name began to appear in magazines and articles by the music critic F.M. Tolstoy. He wrote :
From 1856 the company was a supplier to the court of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich and Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna. In 1857 the company was in the sole ownership of J.Becker. Due to the founder's illness, his brother Franz joined the family business.
From 1858 to 1859 the factory supplied pianos for Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich and Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich, and in 1859 Becker's factory already supplied pianos for the Winter Palace.
Separation of management and factory resale
From the moment the factory was opened until 1861, the company was under the control of the founder.
Then the management was passed to the founder's brother, Franz Becker, and the company itself to Pavel Leontievich Petersen and Mikhail Avgustovich Bitepazh, who became the owners of the J.Becker Factory on January 1, 1872.
New ups and downs
In the last years of the nineteenth century, production grew most intensively. A bright page in the history of the famous factory was the World Exhibition in Paris in 1878, where the factory was credited with countless technological improvements that contributed to the development of the piano craftsmanship worldwide.
Then the First World War began, but the factory continued to operate, although production was steadily declining.
Nationalization of the factory
In 1918, the factory was nationalized and renamed Krasny Oktyabr (en: Red October), continuing to produce pianos and grand pianos in the Soviet Era.
But the resale of the original Becker instruments continues to this day. Some of the company's exhibits are in private collections, and some of the instruments are in the National Museums in St. Petersburg and Moscow.
The return of Becker Pianos
In 2010s the brand was revived once again. Under the new ownership, the company has launched an all-new lineup of pianos under the Becker brand.
The company now manufactures grand pianos, ugright piano, and digital pianos.
By 2023, the modern iteration of the Becker company has created more than 10 models of digital pianos, about 11 models of acoustic pianos and 4 models of grand pianos.