Joseph Martin Kraus

At the age of twelve Kraus began his education at Mannheim. By the age of twenty four he had already been elected to the Swedish Academy of music where a friend of his urged him to move. Kraus composed in a number of different musical genres including operas, cantatas, symphonies, overtures, and quartets. The most important work was his opera "Aeneas i Carthago (Dido och Aeneas)" which was composed over a libretto (by Kellgren) based upon an outline by the King. Kraus was so favored by the Swedish court that the king paid for Kraus' travels to Germany, Austria, Italy, France a...