GRAUN, KARL HEINRICH. — Musician, born in Wahrenbrück on 7 May 1701, died in Berlin on 8 August 1759. In Dresden he pursued serious and profound studies under illustrious masters of the period.
His first sacred compositions won him everyone’s admiration, after which he turned successfully to the theatrical genre. In Brunswig he was chapel master and theatre director, for which he wrote many scores that earned him widespread acclaim. Among his works noteworthy for purity of inspiration and rigorous musical phraseology are: cantatas, Te Deum, the oratorio Der Tod Jesu (11 April 1754, Berlin), sonatas for organ, etc.
BIBL.: C. Mennicke, Hasse und die Brüder Graun als Symphoniker (with extensive thematic catalogues), Dresden 1906.