composer widely admired during his lifetime for his stage works.

The third son of Jan Jiří Benda and his wife, Dorota Brixi, both musicians, and brother of the violinist František Benda, he went with his family to Berlin in 1742. He played violin in the royal orchestra (1742–49) and for nearly 30 years (from 1750) was chapelmaster to the Duke of Gotha.

Benda toured Italy (1765–66) and composed Italian operas and intermezzi, but the works that won him renown throughout Europe were his melodramas Ariadne auf Naxos, Medea (both 1775), and Pygmalion (1779), in which an orchestral accompaniment was provided for the action and spoken words. Benda also wrote several Singspiele (“song-plays”), of which the most famous were Der Dorfjahrmarkt (1775; “The Village Fair”) and Romeo und Julie (1776). Benda's work influenced later composers, notably W.A. Mozart.

Benda's son Friedrich Ludwig Benda (1752–92) was a composer of theatrical music, cantatas, and instrumental works.