Joseph Martin Kraus facts for kids

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Joseph Martin Kraus (born June 20, 1756 – died December 15, 1792) was a German-Swedish composer from the Classical music era. He was born in Miltenberg am Main, Germany. When he was 21, he moved to Sweden and later passed away in Stockholm at the age of 36. People sometimes called him "the Swedish Mozart" because his life span was very similar to Mozart's.

Joseph Martin Kraus (1756–1792) as a student in Erfurt.

His Life Story
His Music
See also

His Life Story

Early Years

Kraus was born in the town of Miltenberg in southern Germany. His father, Joseph Bernhard Kraus, worked as a clerk, and his mother was Anna Dorothea. Joseph was one of 14 children, but sadly, seven of them died when they were young.

In 1761, his family moved to Buchen, where his father found a new job. Joseph Martin Kraus started his schooling there. His first music teachers, Georg Pfister and Bernhard Franz Wendler, taught him how to play the piano and violin. Joseph showed a lot of musical talent from a young age. When he was 12, he went to a special school called a Gymnasium and Music Seminar in Mannheim. Here, he studied German and Latin literature, and he also got serious training in music, especially playing the violin.

His Studies and Music

Kraus's parents wanted him to study law at the University of Mainz in 1773. But he didn't like it there and even wrote a funny story making fun of the university. After just one year, he moved to the University of Erfurt, where he could also study music. Erfurt had a rich musical tradition, with both Catholic and Protestant music being popular. Kraus soon spent more time on music and writing than on his law studies.

For a year, he had to stop his studies and go back to Buchen because of a problem his father had. During this time, he wrote a play called Tolon and some music for the local church, including a Te Deum (a hymn of praise) and a motet (a type of choral music). After this break, he continued studying law at the University of Göttingen. He became interested in a group of young poets who loved the writer Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock. Around this time, Kraus wrote a book of 19 poems. He also became very involved with the Sturm und Drang movement, which was a German art movement that focused on strong emotions. This movement influenced both his writing and his music.

In 1775, when he was 19, Kraus wrote his Requiem, which is a piece of music for a funeral service. This work is very dramatic and full of new, bold ideas.

After the Requiem, he wrote two oratorios (large musical works for voices and orchestra, usually on a religious theme): Der Tod Jesu (The Death of Jesus) and Die Geburt Jesu (The Birth of Jesus), which is now lost. He also wrote a book about music called Etwas von und über Musik (Something about Music).

For his oratorio Der Tod Jesu, Kraus wrote both the music and the words. He wanted church music to touch people's hearts, as he wrote in his book: "Should not church music be mostly for the heart?"

While in Göttingen, Kraus became friends with a Swedish student named Carl Stridsberg. Carl convinced him to go to Stockholm to try and get a job at the court of King Gustav III.

At the Swedish Royal Court

Kraus moved to Stockholm in 1778, just before he turned 22. His first few years were tough, and he often thought about going back home. King Gustav III loved the arts, and many musicians from all over Europe came to Sweden. It took Kraus three difficult years, often living in great poverty, before the king noticed him. His opera Azire was not accepted by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, but they gave him another chance. King Gustav III himself wrote the story for an opera called Proserpin. Kraus's music for this opera was a big success when it was performed for the king and his family on June 6, 1781. After this, Kraus was made vice-Kapellmeister (assistant music director) of the Royal Swedish Opera and director of the Royal Academy of Music.

This was his big break! Kraus was so excited that he wrote to his parents: "Immediately after the music ended, the king talked to me for more than a quarter of an hour ... it had simply given him so much satisfaction. Yesterday I was engaged by him. Of course I was not granted any great title, but quite simply that of Kapellmeister [music director]. What is worth much more to me than 600 guilders is the favour I have been granted, which is that I am to undertake a journey to Germany, France and Italy at the King's expense."

The Grand Tour

King Gustav III sent Kraus on a long trip around Europe, which lasted five years. The goal was for him to learn everything he could about theater in other countries. On this trip, Kraus met famous composers like Christoph Willibald Gluck, Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Padre Martini, and Joseph Haydn. He even wrote a symphony for Haydn to play. Some of Kraus's symphonies were even published under the names of other popular composers at the time. During this journey, Kraus also became a member of the same masonic lodge (a type of social club) as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

While traveling, Kraus also wrote his famous flute quintet (a piece for five instruments) in D Major. This piece was very new and different for its time, especially its very long first part.

After visiting Vienna, his trip took him through Italy, France, and England. In England, he saw the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of Handel's birth. While in Paris, he faced some problems from people in Stockholm who didn't want him to return. But these issues were solved in 1786, allowing him to become a very important person in Swedish music.

Return to Sweden

When Kraus returned in 1787, he became the director of studies at the Royal Academy of Music. The next year, he became the main Kapellmästare (music director). He became known as a conductor who tried new things, a great teacher, and a composer with many talents. He also joined a group of thinkers and artists who met with the architect Erik Palmstedt, discussing cultural life in Stockholm.

In 1789, King Gustav III wanted to convince the Swedish parliament, called the Riksdag of the Estates, to support his war with Russia. The king was opposed by the nobles but supported by the common people. To get his way, King Gustav III wanted parliament to approve a new law that would give him more power. The king asked Kraus to write music for the opening ceremonies of the Riksdag on March 9, 1789. This music included a march and a symphony. The parliament approved the king's plans.

Kraus wrote music for a play called Olympie in January 1792. Even though he was known for his stage music, his biggest work, Aeneas i Cartago, was never performed during his lifetime. On March 16, 1792, King Gustav III was killed at a masked ball at the opera. This event inspired operas by other composers later on. The king's death caused a lot of upset in the cultural world he had supported. Kraus wrote a special song for the funeral and a sad symphony, which were played at the burial ceremonies.

Kraus's own health got worse soon after, and he died in December 1792 from tuberculosis (a lung disease). He was buried outside Stockholm. His tomb has an inscription that says: Här det jordiska af Kraus, det himmelska lefver i hans toner, which means: Here the earthly of Kraus; the heavenly lives in his music.

His Music

Types of Works

A music expert named Bertil H. van Boer divides Kraus's religious music into two periods. The first, from 1768 to 1777, includes music Kraus wrote as a Roman Catholic for Catholic church services. In the second period, from 1778 to 1790, Kraus was still Catholic, but he wrote music for Lutheran church services. At that time in Sweden, there wasn't much need for religious music apart from short hymns. There was also a big discussion about what role music should play in the church, and Kraus wrote three articles about it in a newspaper.

There are two main lists of Kraus's music. One uses "A" numbers, and the other, by Bertil van Boer, uses "VB" numbers. You can find a full list of his works in the list of compositions by Joseph Martin Kraus.

Bertil van Boer also helped create modern versions of Kraus's music, which have been recorded. An orchestra called Concerto Köln won several awards for their recordings of Kraus's symphonies, played on instruments from his time.

Musical Style

Kraus's music is known for sudden, dramatic changes in how high or low the notes are, the mood of the music, and especially the harmonies (how notes sound together). He was very good at writing complex musical lines that weave together, but his way of developing small musical ideas might not have been as advanced as Mozart's or Haydn's. However, his ability to write beautiful, flowing melodies was clear.

Kraus's Symphonies

Many of Kraus's symphonies have been lost, or people thought they were written by other composers. Of the ones we know for sure are his, only about a dozen remain. Most of his existing symphonies have three parts, or movements, and do not include a minuet (a type of dance). Most are written for two horns and string instruments. Many also include two flutes and two oboes, while his later ones also have two bassoons and two extra horns. The musicologist Bertil van Boer says that Kraus's Symphony in C-sharp minor is "one of only two symphonies in this key written during the eighteenth century." It was later changed to a more common key, C minor.

It's still debated whether the symphony Kraus wrote for Haydn was the Symphony in D major or the Symphony in C minor. The C minor symphony's mood seems to remind people of Haydn's emotional Sturm und Drang period. Haydn thought very highly of Kraus's work. Many years after Kraus died, Haydn told a friend: "The symphony he wrote here in Vienna especially for me will be regarded as a masterpiece for centuries to come; believe me, there are few people who can compose something like that."

Kraus's Viola Concertos

Kraus wrote two viola concertos (pieces for a solo viola and orchestra) that were lost or thought to be by other composers during his lifetime. One of them, the C major Concerto, was thought to be by Roman Hoffstetter. But both works have now been confirmed as Kraus's compositions and have been recorded by David Aaron Carpenter.

Chamber Music

Kraus's chamber music (music for a small group of instruments) includes quartets (for four instruments), solo sonatas (for one instrument), and sonatas for violin and piano.