Leopold Friedrich Raab (1721 - after

1786 Events January–March * January 3 – The third Treaty of Hopewell is signed between the United States and the Choctaw. * January 6 – The outward bound East Indiaman '' Halsewell'' is wrecked on the south coast of Englan ...

) was a German composer and violinist of the baroque to early classical era. Raab was born in Glogau (now

Głogów Głogów (; , rarely , ) is a city in western Poland. It is the county seat of Głogów County, in Lower Silesian Voivodeship. Głogów is the sixth largest town in the Voivodeship; its population in 2021 was 65,400. Among the oldest towns in Po ...

, Poland). He studied for several years at the leopoldinum (later to become the

University of Wrocław The University of Wrocław (, UWr; ) is a public research university in Wrocław, Poland. It is the largest institution of higher learning in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, with over 100,000 graduates since 1945, including some 1,900 researcher ...

). He also took part in performances at the catholic church there. He studied violin with a violinist named Rau before moving to Berlin to study with

Franz Benda Franz Benda (; baptised 22 November 1709 – 7 March 1786) was a Bohemian violinist and composer, who worked for much of his life at the court of Frederick the Great. Life Benda was born in Old Benatek in Bohemia, the son of Jan Jiří Benda ...

. He also began composing numerous concertos, sonatas and

sinfonia Sinfonia (; plural ''sinfonie'') is the Italian word for symphony, from the Latin ''symphonia'', in turn derived from Ancient Greek συμφωνία ''symphōnia'' (agreement or concord of sound), from the prefix σύν (together) and Φωνή (s ...

s in the style of his master. His name appears as a dedication on the autograph manuscript of a quartet by

Johann Gottlieb Janitsch Johann Gottlieb Janitsch (19 June 1708 – c. 1763) was a German Baroque composer who wrote in the galant style, transitional between the Baroque and Classical periods. Life Janitsch was born in Schweidnitz, Silesia (today Świdnica, Poland) ...

dated 1750, Potsdam alongside Johann Caspar Grundke, an oboist of

Frederick the Great Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled ''King in Prussia'', declaring himself ''King of Prussia'' after annexing Royal Prussia ...

's Hofkapelle. This indicates that he took part in performances at the Royal Court, or possibly at Janitsch's weekly house concerts "Freitags-Akademien".) In this particular quartet, Raab must have played either viola or violetta. In 1753 he was employed as Konzertmeister at the Hofkapelle of Karl Friedrich Albrecht, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt in Berlin. After the death of the Margrave in 1762, he acquired the position of chamber musician and director of music at the court of

Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia (; 23 May 1730 – 2 May 1813) was a Prussian prince and general, as well as ''Herrenmeister'' ("Master of the Knights") of the Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Order of Saint John. He belonged to the House o ...

. In 1784, he was recorded as living in Mauerstraße. His date of death is unknown. His son, Ernst Heinrich Otto (1750-1801), having learnt the violin from his father, also became a distinguished

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 and was appointed as a chamber musician to the emperor of Russia.

Works

Raab was said to have composed numerous concertos, sonatas and sinfonias during his time in Berlin, as well as many good "things" for the violin, however it seems that most of his music has not survived, or remains undiscovered. His only known works to have survived are two violin concertos (in E major and E minor) for which the manuscripts can be found in the archive of the

Sing-Akademie zu Berlin The Sing-Akademie zu Berlin, also known as the Berliner Singakademie, is a musical (originally choral) society founded in Berlin in 1791 by Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch, harpsichordist to the court of Prussia, on the model of the 18th-centu ...

which was rediscovered in 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raab, Leopold Friedrich 18th-century German composers 18th-century German violinists Polish composers Polish violinists People from Głogów Musicians from the Province of Silesia University of Breslau alumni 1721 births Year of death unknown