Born 23.1.1683 in Kirchberg
Died 10.5.1760 in Darmstadt
1711 married Sophie Elisabeth Eckardt

In 1709, Landgrave Ernest Louis brought Christoph Graupner from the Hamburg Opera to Darmstadt.

The instrumental work includes the most important genres and musical styles from the mid-18th century: overtures, concerts, symphonies and sonatas. Over his 50 years of uninterrupted activity at the Darmstadt court, Graupner took up the modern musical tendencies of his time and integrated them in his works.

His contemporaries therefore considered him a highly modern composer. During his service, the Darmstadt Court Orchestra became a widely respected ensemble of national acclaim with strong links to other courts and composers. In addition to Graupner's own works, his Court Orchestra also performed many pieces by leading contemporaries.

Graupner cantatas (opens in new tab) (Friedrich Noack directory)

Because of the diversity and modernity of his music, Graupner is still greatly appreciated today by musicians from all over the world. Many artists who specialise in historical musical practice have for many years devoted themselves intensively to discovering his works:

Telemann and Graupner

Darmstadt's Telemann manuscripts are exclusively copies by Graupner's hand or by his collaborators. This approach followed the practice of the time, which was to obtain works by external musicians in order to add variety to the performances at the Darmstadt court. As almost no autograph originals of Telemann's works have been preserved; ULB Darmstadt therefore possesses its own strand of tradition of Telemann's works.