Hermann Raupach

Hermann Friedrich Raupach (December 21, 1728, Stralsund - December 12, 1778, St Petersburg) was a German composer.

Biography

The son and pupil of Christoph Raupach (1686-1744, a composer and organist at Stralsund, Germany), Hermann Raupach was a harpsichordist, who became the assistant of Vincenzo Manfredini, at the Russian Imperial Court Orchestra in St Petersburg in 1755. In 1758 he was appointed a Kapellmeister and court composer. Some of his operas were performed in Russian. His "Alceste" ("Альцеста", 1758 is regarded as "the second Russian opera" (after Araja’s "Tsefal i Prokris, 1755"). The role of Admet in this opera was sung by Dmitri Bortnyansky, called the "Orpheus of the Neva river".

In 1762 Raupach left St Petersburg for Hamburg and then to Paris, where he met Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and improvised with him on harpsichord in 4 hands. Mozart arranged some movements from his sonatas for piano and string orchestra. The Sonata for Piano and Violin in A major, that was listed as K61, [The number was changed into K. Anh 290a and then later into K. Anh C.23.07. See [http://www.mozartforum.com/koechel%20main.htm the link] ] first appeared under Mozart's name in the Breitkopf & Härtel "OEuvres" in 1804. It had been in Baron Taddaus von Dürnitz collection, and was mistakenly thought to be by Mozart. In 1912 Theodor de Wyzewa and Georges de St. Foix discovered that the real composer was Hermann Raupach. They believed the young Mozart copied this sonata to use for an arrangement for a piano concerto, as he had used works of Raupach in K37, K39 and K41. [ Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos. 1, 2 and 4. ]

Later Raupach returned to St Petersburg, where he became the instructor of composition and singing at the Academy of Fine Arts from 1768 to 1778. The composers Dmitri Bortnyansky and Yevstigney Fomin were among his pupils.

Works

Operas

*"Alceste", (Russian: "Альцеста - Alcesta", text by Alexander Sumarokov in Russian (1758, St Petersburg),
*"The New Monastery" (1759)
*"Siroe", in Italian (1760, St Petersburg)
*"Good Soldiers" ("Добрые солдаты – Dobryie soldaty", February 29, 1780 St Petersburg)

Others

*About 15(?) ballets
*Cantatas to the Psalms in Russian translation by Mikhail Lomonosov (His "Psalm 145" was especially popular)
*Violin sonatas

Notes

Music and Sound samples

Bibliography

*Gerber E.L.: "Altes Lexicon", II, p.239

External links

* [http://operetta.stanford.edu/composers/R.html Opera composers R]
* [http://www.mozartforum.com/Lore/article.php?id=031 Not by Mozart]
* [http://www.rulex.ru/01170274.htm Short biographical note in Russian]