Krause, Christian Gottfried

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Krause, Christian Gottfried

Krause, Christian Gottfried, German writer on music and composer; b. Winzig, Silesia (baptized), April 17, 1719; d. Berlin, May 4, 1770. He studied violin, keyboard playing, and timpani with his father, and pursued the study of law at the Univ. of Frankfurt an der Oder (1740–45). In 1753 he was made a lawyer to the Berlin city council, and later served as a Justizrat of the High Prussian Court. His Berlin home became a center for the arts. His treatise, Von der musikalischen Poesie (Berlin, 1752; 2nd ed., 1753), which advocated a simple song style, served as the foundation of the first Berlin Lied style. With the poet Karl Ramler, he compiled several vols, of lieder (Berlin, 1753-68). He composed the Singspiel Der lustige Schulmeister (Berlin, 1766), 4 syms., chamber music, cantatas, and songs.

Bibliography

J. Beaujean, C. G. K.: Sein Leben und seine Persönlichkeit im Verhältnis zu den musikalischen Problemen des 18. Jahrhunderts als Ästhetiker und Musiker (Dillingen an der Donau, 1930).

—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire