Gottlieb Graupner

Who was Gottlieb Graupner?

Johann Christian Gottlieb Graupner was a musician, composer, educator and publisher. Born in Hanover, Germany, he played oboe in Joseph Haydn's orchestra in London. After moving to the United States in the 1790s, he co-founded the Philharmonic Society and the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston, Massachusetts.

Some historians call Graupner "the father of Negro songs.", based on the reminiscences of performer Charles T. White. One historian of jazz writes: "In 1795...Graupner...arrived in Charleston, Virginia, from Hanover, Germany, listened to banjo music and Negro songs, and learned. In 1799, donning blackface, he introduced himself as 'The Gay Negro Boy' in an interlude between acts at the Federal Street Theatre in Boston. This was the beginning of Negro minstrels and minstrelsy." According to another account, thereafter "he specialized in popularizing Negro songs." However, more recent historians have cast doubt upon these claims.

In 1810 he organized the Boston Philharmonic Society to perform classical music in reaction to the non-classical syncopation of the fuguing tunes of William Billings. He became "the musical oracle of Boston" from 1798 until the 1815 when he was among the founding members of the Handel and Haydn Society. Around 1816 he directed the orchestra at Washington Gardens. He played concerts in Boston at the Columbian Museum, Conservatory Hall, and other venues in Boston and around New England. His wife, opera singer Catherine Comoford Hillier, also performed frequently.