GRAUN, KARL HEINRICH. – Musician, born at Wahrenbrück on 7 May 1701, died in Berlin on 8 August 1759. He completed his serious and profound studies in Dresden with illustrious masters of the time.
His first sacred compositions won him universal admiration, after which he successfully turned to the theatrical genre. At Brunswick he was Kapellmeister and director of the theatre, for which he wrote many scores that earned him widespread popularity. Among his noteworthy works, distinguished by purity of inspiration and strict musical phrasing, are to be counted: cantatas, the *Te Deum*, the oratorio *Der Tod Jesu* (first performed on 11 April 1754 in Berlin), organ sonatas, etc.
BIBL.: C. Mennicke, *Hasse und die Brüder Graun als Symphoniker* (with extensive thematic catalogues), Dresden 1906. Silvio Mario Mattei