Many of the Graun brothers' works were simply marked 'Graun' in original sources, leading to confusion in attribution, but the works on this album are definitively by Johann Gottlieb Graun.
Performer Biography
Amanda Forsythe, the soprano on this album, sang Euridice on the Boston Early Music Festival's 2015 Grammy-winning recording of Charpentier's La Descente d'Orphée aux Enfers.
Composer Biography
Johann Gottlieb Graun, the composer on this album, was one of three musician brothers, though only he and his younger brother Carl Heinrich became significant composers.
Instruments
The viola da gamba, or viol, was historically associated with 'gentlemen, merchants, and other persons of culture,' distinguishing it from the violin, which was played by those who made a living from it.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Johann Gottlieb Graun, along with Franz Benda, is considered the founder of the North German violin school, emphasizing virtuosity and orchestral discipline.
Composition History
Graun's viola da gamba music likely resulted from his close collaboration with Ludwig Christian Hesse, the only gambist in the Prussian Hofkapelle, who was considered the greatest gambist in Europe.
Compositional Technique
Johann Gottlieb Graun was arguably the most prolific composer of viol music who was not a virtuoso of the instrument himself, creating 27 known works that are highly virtuosic and substantial.
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