Christoph Graupner

Graupner was first noticed to have a keen acumen for sight singing, observed by his teachers when he studied keyboard with Kustner at Reichenbach. The teachers at the Thomasschule which he attended included Schelle and Kuhnau. He moved to Hamburg where he met Telemann (who was a life-long friend) and Grunewald. It is here that Graupner was first employed as an opera harpsichordist. The presentation of five operas in Hamburg demonstrated the characteristics of his compositions that included his independent and dramatic instrumetnal writing. "Bellerophon" was especially successf...