Friedrich Hartmann Graf

Biography

Friedrich Hartmann Graf (23 August 1727 – 19 August 1795) was a German flautist and composer.

Early life

Graf was born on 23 August 1727 in Rudolstadt.

Military career

He was trained by his father, Johann Graf, and then served as a drummer in a Dutch army regiment, where he was taken as a prisoner of war by the French.

Musical career

After he returned in 1759, he became a flautist and conductor in Hamburg for five years. During that time, he toured England, the Dutch Republic, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany. He was then made first flautist by his brother Christian Ernst Graf, who led the chapel of the stadtholder's court in The Hague. Later, he became the music director of all Protestant churches and cantor of the school of St. Anna in Augsburg, where he founded a civil society concert in 1779. Here he also met Mozart.

Death

Graf died on 19 August 1795 in Augsburg.