Johann Gottlieb Graun (1702/1703 – 27 October 1771) was a German

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

Classical era Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the interwoven civilization ...

composer and

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist, born in Wahrenbrück. His brother Carl Heinrich was a singer and also a composer, and is the better known of the two. Johann Gottlieb studied with J.G. Pisendel in Dresden and Giuseppe Tartini in Padua. Appointed Konzertmeister in Merseburg in 1726, he taught the violin to J.S. Bach's son Wilhelm Friedemann. He joined the court of the Prussian crown prince (the future Frederick the Great) in 1732. Graun was later made ''Konzertmeister'' of the Berlin Opera in 1740. He composed over 50 songs and compositions. Graun's compositions were highly respected, and continued to be performed after his death: "The concert-master, John Gottlib Graun, brother to the opera-composer, his admirers say, 'was one of the greatest performers on the violin of his time, and most assuredly, a composer of the first rank'," wrote Charles Burney. He was primarily known for his instrumental works, though he also wrote vocal music and operas. He wrote a large number of violin concertos, trio sonatas, and solo sonatas for violin with cembalo, as well as two string quartets — among the earliest attempts in this genre. He also wrote many concertos for viola da gamba, which were very virtuosic, and were played by Ludwig Christian Hesse, considered the leading gambist of the time. Despite the popularity of his works, Graun was not free from criticism. Burney noted that some critics complained that, "In his concertos and church music ... the length of each movement is more immoderate than Christian patience can endure."Burney (1775), volume II, p. 230.

Selected recordings

*Concerti & Sinfonie Wiener Akademie, dir. Martin Haselböck cpo

References

External links

* 1700s births 1771 deaths People from Uebigau-Wahrenbrück People from the Electorate of Saxony German Baroque composers German Classical-period composers German male classical composers 18th-century German classical composers 18th-century German composers 18th-century German male musicians People educated at the Kreuzschule Pupils of Giuseppe Tartini 18th-century German violinists {{Violinist-stub