Christoph Graupner (1683-1760)

Johann Christoph Graupner (1683-1760) was a German harpsichordist and composer of Baroque music, born in Hartmannsdorf near Kirchberg in Saxony.

Graupner received his first musical instruction from his uncle, an organist named Nicolaus Kuester. Graupner went to the University of Leipzig where he studied law and then completed his musical studies with Johann Kuhnau, the cantor of the Thomasschule.

In 1705 Graupner left Leipzig to play the harpsichord in the orchestra of the Hamburg Opera under the direction of Reinhard Keiser, alongside George Frideric Handel, then a young violinist. Graupner composed six operas in Hamburg, some of them in collaboration with Keiser, a popular composer of operas in Germany.

In 1709 Graupner accepted a post at the court of Hesse-Darmstadt and in 1711 became the court orchestra’s Hofkapellmeister (court chapel master). Graupner spent the rest of his career at the court in Hesse-Darmstadt, where his primary responsibilities were to provide music for the court chapel from 1709 to 1754, when he became blind. He died six years later.