HMR Project: History of Music & Modern Recording

Johann Graun / Carl Graun

Carl Graun

Carl Heinrich Graun 1752

Engraving by Valentin Daniel Preisler

There are no known images of Johann Graun

Johann Gottlieb Graun was born on 27 Oct 1703 in Wahrenbrück in the Electorate of Saxony, older brother to Carl (Karl) Heinrich Graun born on 7 May 1704 also in Wahrenbrück. Johann was to become a violin virtuoso who composed instrumental works. His more famous brother, Carl, was a tenor who composed for opera as well as instrumental works. Though each had fallen into such obscurity that many of their works can't be dated, both were highly regarded musicians in their time and are today trending toward greater recognition. Johann lived through six Holy Roman Emperors from Leopold I at the time of his birth to Josephus II. Carl lived through five from Leopold I through Francis I, dying eleven years before his older brother. As this remarkable map of the development of the Holy Roman Empire (HRE) from the 9th century to the emergence of the German Empire in 1871 shows, the HRE was a complex conglomerate ever embattled, ever in flux. At the time of Johann's birth France had long since departed from the HRE and had become its major adversarial rival. At the year of Johann's birth Louis XIV, the longest reigning monarch in European history, had been Sun King of France since age four for the last 60 years and had twelve more to go. Louis had begun to reign personally in 1661 at age eighteen.

At its other front the HRE had for centuries been facing not only a dangerous rival, but an outright enemy for reasons of religion in the Ottoman Empire, from which Austria had recently reacquired Hungary in 1699. The Habsburg victory at the Battle of Senta in 1697 had put the Ottoman threat largely to rest as the Empire declined into remission, hemmed off as well by Eastern Orthodox Russia. Over in Spain the War of Spanish Succession would be fought for thirteen years from 1701 to 1714 during Johann and Carl's childhoods, that involving England and France. Clement XI became the 243rd Pope in 1700 and would remain to 1721. It was also 1700 to 1721 that Russia and Sweden fought the Great Northern War (GNW) ending to Russia's favor. Like the War of Spanish Succession, that was also a complicated weave involving the rest of Europe, particularly a little closer to the Graun brothers' home insofar as Frederick I had named himself (the first) King of Prussia in 1701 and allied himself with Russia toward Sweden's defeat. Prussia was part of the Holy Roman Empire. As for England, both the Tory and Whig parties had been recently formed in 1678 to become major rivals well into the 19th century. As well, England and Scotland became Great Britain in 1707 under the reign of Queen Anne (1702-14). Such is something of the greater world into which the Graun brothers were born.

Albeit the HRE had ever existed as an alliance with the Catholic Papacy in Rome, in 1714 Carl followed Johann to Dresden where they received a Lutheran education and sang in both the choir of the Dresden Kreuzkirche and the chorus of the Opernhaus am Zwinger. Saxony was an Electorate of the HRE in which pocket the Protestant faith had been defended since Martin Luther despite the greater Catholicism of the HRE including in Spain. Johann studied under Johann Pisendel in Dresden and Giuseppe Tartini in Padua before becoming a konzertmeister in Merseburg in 1726, the year that Carl premiered his first opera, the successful five-act 'Polydorus'. Graun's trio sonatas below are thought to have been published between 1725 and 1735. GWV numbers for both Johann and Carl are from Christopher Henzel's remarkable 'Verzeichnis der Werke der Brüder Johann Gottlieb und Carl Heinrich Graun' (Beeskow, 2006). Their works were indexed in a single catalogue due that it wasn't always known which Graun wrote what of numerous instrumentals. This Verzeichnis was an endeavor to distinguish which compositions belonged to which brother, as well as identify collaborations of which there were numerous [ortus musikverlag]. It isn't identified when he wrote the sonatas descending according to their Graun numbers below:

GWV A:XV:13 'Trio Sonata in A major' Johann Gottlieb Graun

Movement 1 of 3: Allegro In collaboration w Carl Graun

Les Amis de Philippe Album 2006

GWV A:XV:27 'Trio Sonata in E major' Johann Gottlieb Graun

Movement 3 of 3: Allegro In collaboration w Carl Graun

Les Amis de Philippe Album 2006

GWV Av:XV:19 'Trio Sonata in C minor' Johann Gottlieb Graun

Movement 2 of 3: Allegro ma non molto

Les Amis de Philippe Album 2006

GWV Cv:XV:100 'Trio Sonata in D major' Johann Gottlieb Graun

Movement 2 of 4: Allegro In collaboration w Carl Graun

Les Amis de Philippe Album 2006

Johann hired on with Frederick II (Frederick the Great) [Wikipedia] in 1732 and became Konzertmeister of the Berlin Opera in 1740. He wrote numerous works for violin, particularly sonatas and concerti like 'Violin Concerto in D Minor' GWV C:XIII:75 published circa 1735-50 [audio]. Also authoring symphonies and overtures such as 'Suite in A moll' GWV C:XI:16 composed at an unknown time [score], Johann wrote for viol da gamba and flute as well. It isn't identified when he wrote the concerti presented in the order of their Graun numbers below:

GWV A:XIII:3 'Concerto for Violin and Viola da Gamba in C minor' Johann Gottlieb Graun

Movement 1 of 3: Allegro

Frankfurt Capella Academica

GWV C:XV:68 'Violin Concerto in C minor' Johann Gottlieb Graun

Movement 1 of 3: Allegro

moderntimes_1800 Album

GWV C:XV:84 'Concerto for 2 Violins in G major' Johann Gottlieb Graun

Movement 1 of 3: Allegro molto e con spirito

moderntimes_1800 Album

On 7 December 1742 Carl premiered his opera, 'Cesare e Cleopatra', in Berlin with libretto by Giovan Gualberto Bottarelli [IMSLP]. 'Demofoonte' with libretto by Pietro Metastasio premiered in Berlin on 17 January 1746. 'L'Orfeo with libretto by Leopoldo de Villati arrived to Berlin on 27 March 1752.

GWV B:1:13 'Misero Pargoletto' Carl Heinrich Graun

'Miserable Little Child' From Act 3 of the opera 'Demofoonte'

Premiere 17 Jan 1746 in Berlin Libretto: Metastasio

Soprano: Cecilia Bartoli Album: 'Sacrificium'

GWV B:1:25 'D'ogni aura al mormorar' Carl Heinrich Graun

'From every aura to the murmurs' From Act 2 of the opera 'L'Orfeo'

Premiere 27 March 1752 in Berlin Libretto: Leopoldo de Villati

Soprano: Julia Lezhneva Concerto Köln Mikhail Antonenko

Frederick II wrote the libretto for 'Montezuma' [IMSLP] that premiered in Berlin on 6 January 1755. Carl's Passion oratorio, 'Der Tod Jesu' ('Death of Jesus'), premiered on 28 March the same year [IMSLP / Livingston]. 'The Death of Jesus' was a setting for the Passion with libretto by Karl Wilhelm Ramler. 'Te Deum Laudamus' was composed to celebrate the bittersweet victory of Frederick II against Austrian forces at the Battle of Prague on 6 May 1757.