Friedemann Wezel: Christoph Graupner Violin Concerto in A major, Ensemble Il Capriccio

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Christoph Graupner (1683-1760) - Violin Concerto in A major, GWV 337

I. Allegro [0:00]
II. Andante [4:08]
III. Allegro [7:47]

Friedemann Wezel, violin
Ensemble Il Capriccio

Christoph Graupner's cantata for the birthday ...
Christoph Graupner's cantata for the birthday of Landgraf Ernst Ludwig, December 1726. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Christoph Graupner was one of the principal German composers of the period of J.S. Bach and Georg Philipp Telemann. He was highly thought of in his day, much like Georg Frederic Handel or Telemann, with whom he maintained a lifetime friendship. Composers Johann David Heinichen and Johann Friedrich Fasch were also close friends of his. His first teachers were Mylius and the organist Küster, whom Graupner followed to Reichenbach in 1694. He entered the Leipzig Thomasschule in 1696, where J.D. Heinichen was a fellow student; he studied under Johann Schelle and Johann Kuhnau and befriended Telemann and his future colleague Gottfried Grünewald during his nine years in the city.

Christoph Graupner was a prolific and tireless composer. Though blind later in life, he produced immense amounts of music, with over 2,000 works, including 8 Operas, 1,418 Sacred Cantatas, of which he was an outstanding composer, 24 Secular Cantatas, 113 Symphonies, 86 Overtures (Suites), 44 Concerti for one to four instruments, 66 Trio Sonatas, as well as keyboard music, including well as 41 Partita for Harpsichord.

Christoph Graupner was also one of the German composers, such as J.D. Heinichen, Johann Georg Pisendel, Fasch, Hurlebusch and Telemann, who imitated the works of A. Vivaldi, through which the Italian concerto, especially the solo concerto, became known in Germany. He was known to be one of the Protestant masters whom J.S. Bach admired and studied.

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