Christian Gottfried Krause (17 April 1717 – 4 May 1770) was a German lawyer, composer and music commentator.

Life

Krause was born in Winzig (today

Wińsko Wińsko is a village (former town) in Wołów County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Wińsko. It lies approximately north of Wołów, and north-west of th ...

, Poland) into a musical family. His father was a Stadtpfeifer from whom he learned to play the flute, violin, keyboard and timpani. Krause studied law at the

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

Frankfurt an der Oder Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Marchian dialects, Central Marchian: ''Frankfort an de Oder,'' ) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after Potsdam, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel. With a ...

, where he attended lectures by

Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten (; ; 17 July 1714 – 27 MayJan LekschasBaumgarten Family'' 1762) was a German philosopher. He was a brother to theologian Siegmund Jakob Baumgarten (1706–1757). Biography Baumgarten was born in Berlin as the ...

, among others. Baumgarten's ideas on aesthetic had a profound influence on Krause. In 1746 he moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where he died. Krause's treatise ''Von der musikalischen Poesie'' (1753) marked the beginning of the ''Ersten Berliner Liederschule'' (first Berlin

Lieder In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...

School).

Musical works

* ''Gelobet sey der Herr'' (

Cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

) 1758 * ''Der Tod Jesu'' (

, text by

Karl Wilhelm Ramler Karl Wilhelm Ramler (25 February 1725 – 11 April 1798) was a German poet who was the Berlin Cadet School master. Ramler was born in Kolobrzeg, Kolberg. After graduating from the University of Halle, he went to Berlin, where, in 1748, he w ...

) 1758 * '' Oden mit Melodien'' 1761 * ''Der lustige Schulmeister'' (Singspiel, text by

Friedrich Nicolai Christoph Friedrich Nicolai (18 March 1733 – 11 January 1811) was a German writer, bookseller, critic, and regional historian, who authored satirical novels and travelogues. Life Nicolai was born in Berlin, where his father, (d. 175 ...

) 1766 * ''Lieder der deutschen mit Melodien'' in four volumes 1767-8 Krause's instrumental output includes a small amount of chamber music, orchestral sinfonias and partitas and keyboard works. There are also numerous pieces listed in 18th century catalogues which have not survived.

Literary works

* ''Lettre à Mr. le Marquis de B. sur la difference de la Musique Italienne et la musique Francaise'' 1748 * ''Von der musikalischen Poesie'' 1752

References

* Josef Beaujean: ''Christian Gottfried Krause. Sein Leben und seine Persönlichkeit im Verhältnis zu den musikalischen Problemen des 18. Jahrhunderts als Ästhetiker und Musiker''. Inaugural-Dissertation der Universität Bonn. Dillingen a. D.: Schwäbische Verlagsdruckerei 1930. * Darrell M. Berg: ''The Correspondence of Christian Gottfried Krause: A Music Lover in the Age of Sensibility''. Ashgate 2009. * Paul F. Marks: ''The Rhetorical Element in Musical Sturm und Drang: Christian Gottfried Krause's »Von der Musikalischen Poesie«''. International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music 2 (1971), S. 49-64. * John Richard Edwards: ''Christian Gottfried Krause: mentor of the first Berlin song school''. 1973.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Krause, Christian Gottfried 18th-century German composers 1717 births 1770 deaths German Classical-period composers European University Viadrina alumni People from Lower Silesian Voivodeship Composers from Berlin Composers from the Kingdom of Prussia Jurists from the Kingdom of Prussia