Graupner, (Johann Christian) Gottlieb

Graupner, (Johann Christian) Gottlieb, German-born American oboist, music publisher, teacher, and composer; b. Verden, near Hannover, Oct. 6, 1767; d. Boston, April 16, 1836. He was the son of the oboist Johann Georg Graupner. He learned to play the oboe but also became proficient on many other instruments. After his honorable discharge as an oboist in a military regiment in Hannover (1788), he was active in London. He then emigrated to North America, where he was a member of the Charleston, S.C., City Theatre orch. by 1795. In 1796 he married Catherine Comerford Graupner, an actress and singer known as the widow Mrs. Hillier. They subsequently performed regularly together, settling in Boston in 1797. With Francis Mallet and Filippo Trajetta, he founded the American Conservatorio in 1801, which quickly turned to selling, hiring, and printing music. In 1802 Graupner became sole proprietor of the business, which developed into Boston’s principal music publishing enterprise. He also was active as a theater musician and as a teacher. In 1808 he became a naturalized American citizen. In 1809 he helped to found the Philo-Harmonic Soc., which promoted the performance of the German orch. repertory until disbanding in 1824. In 1815 he was one of the founding members of the Handel and Haydn Soc. He publ. in Boston Rudiments of the Art of Playing on the Piano Forte (1806; 2^nd ed., rev. and enl., 1819), New Instructor for the Clarinet (c. 1825), and G. Graupner’s Complete Preceptor for the German Flute (1826). Among his extant compositions are Governor Brooks’ Grand March for Flute and Piano (1820) and several songs.

Bibliography

K. Graupner Stone (his granddaughter), History and Genealogy of the G. Family (MS, 1906).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire