Johann Gottlieb Graun : three symphonies : a performing edition with critical commentary

Abstract

The purpose of this annotated edition of the Symphonies M9 in C, M34 in D and M100 in F is to make three more of Johann Gottlieb Graun’s works readily accessible to musicologists and performers, and in doing so to make a small contribution to the research currently being undertaken into the pre-Classical symphony. A biography of Graun and a discussion concerning his symphonic style are included so that these works may be viewed in their historical perspective. Graun studied violin with Pisendel and Tartini and was himself ranked among Europe’s leading violinists. He was Frederick the Great’s concertmaster for at least thirty-six years, during which time he was responsible for the discipline of the highly acclaimed Berlin opera orchestra. Graun’s compositional output is dominated by instrumental genres, including at least ninety symphonies. These Italianate symphonies are clearly transitional in style, the structure of the outer movements owing more to the rounded binary movements of the Baroque dance suite than to Classical sonata form, while the phraseology of the subjects and the slower harmonic rate of these same movements look toward the future. The slow movements vary in size from mere transitional passages to full-scale binary or ternary movements. However, all too often the melodic lines are disrupted by complex subdivisions of the beat, sudden dynamic contrasts and rests. Despite the uneven quality of his symphonies, Johann Gottlieb Graun holds an important historical position for two reasons. Firstly, he made a major contribution to the dissemination of the Italian symphony throughout northern Germany in the 1730’s and 17AO’s, and, secondly, he was among the first of the north German composers to write mainly concert symphonies. Show more