Photo: Ernst Hoenisch · Public domain · credits
Tier 3 · vertical & regional
Günter Raphael
Person · male · Germany · Berlin · born 1903 · died 1960 · recording since 2024
German composer (1903–1960)
official homepagedatabasedatabase
Also known as 君特·拉斐尔
Timeline
5 events▣ Album 2◦ Birth 1† Death 1★ Debut release 1
1900s
1960s
2020s
· Debut release
Debut release: Shadows: The Unaccompanied Viola Sonatas of Günter Raphael
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
Biography
English biography198 words · 1 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1351356160
Biography
Günter Raphael (30 April 1903 – 19 October 1960) was a German composer. Born in Berlin, Raphael was the grandson of composer Albert Becker. His first symphony was premiered by Wilhelm Furtwängler in 1926 in Leipzig with the Gewandhaus Orchestra. From 1926 to 1934 he taught in Leipzig, but illness and the rise of Fascism – he was declared a "half-Jew" – made this difficult for him. He received the Franz Liszt Award for composition in 1948. His students include Kurt Hessenberg and Atli Heimir Sveinsson.
His compositions include five symphonies, concertos for violin and for organ, six string quartets, numerous solos and duos for strings and winds with and without piano of which several have been recorded. Raphael also composed organ, piano and choral works. He was also responsible for arranging a performance version of Antonín Dvořák's Cello Concerto in A major (1865) when its piano and cello score was discovered in 1918.
He was also an editor of classical and baroque scores for Breitkopf and Härtel, preparing editions of, for example, flute sonatas by Frederick the Great and works by Vivaldi and Johann Sebastian Bach (some of these can be found in the Cornell University Library).
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 14 | 70.2th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 2 | 75.7th |
| Studio albums | 2 | 78.8th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 5 | 78.8th |
| Recording span (years) | -64 | 5.9th |
| Genres | 1 | 56th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (2 release groups · 2 studio albums)
Albums · 2
Shadows: The Unaccompanied Viola Sonatas of Günter Raphael
2024 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 13 tracks · 53:11
1Viola Sonata in C minor, op. 7: I. Praeludium4:122Viola Sonata in C minor, op. 7: II. Fuga3:383Viola Sonata in C minor, op. 7: III. Gavotte3:254Viola Sonata in C minor, op. 7: IV. Andante mit Variationen6:165Viola Sonata in C minor, op. 7: V. Menuett5:486Viola Sonata in C minor, op. 7: VI. Gigue3:587Viola Sonata in G major, op. 46 no. 3: I. In sanfter Bewegung3:538Viola Sonata in G major, op. 46 no. 3: II. Menuett - Trio5:589Viola Sonata in G major, op. 46 no. 3: III. Frisch und lebendig4:0410Viola Sonata in E minor, op. 46 no. 4: I. Sehr beseelt und bewegt4:1911Viola Sonata in E minor, op. 46 no. 4: II. Ausserst lebhaft, rauschend1:4712Viola Sonata in E minor, op. 46 no. 4: III. Schlicht und einfach3:2613Viola Sonata in E minor, op. 46 no. 4: IV. Lebendig2:272025 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 35 tracks · 1:00:35
1Fantasie & Fugue on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 1: I. Fantasie10:582Fantasie & Fugue on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 1: II. Fugue14:043Partita on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 2: I. Chorale1:284Partita on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 2: II. Trio1:345Partita on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 2: III. Bicinium1:126Partita on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 2: IV. Minore1:437Partita on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 2: V. Cantus firmus2:208Partita on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 2: VI. Pachelbel‐Form2:069Partita on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 2: VII. Chorale2:1010Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Chorale (1)0:4711Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 10:4912Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 20:4813Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 30:5214Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 40:4915Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 50:5016Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 60:4617Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 70:4318Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 80:3319Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 90:3220Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 100:3721Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 110:3822Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 120:3923Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 130:5724Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 140:5025Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 150:3826Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 160:4527Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 170:5328Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 181:0429Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 190:3530Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 200:3131Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 210:4632Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 220:3933Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 231:0334Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Var. 24, Pedal Solo2:1935Passacaglia on a Finnish Chorale, op. 41 no. 3: Chorale (2)2:37
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Günter Raphael head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 14 | 70.2th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 2 | 75.7th |
| Studio albums | 2 | 78.8th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 5 | 78.8th |
| Recording span (years) | -64 | 5.9th |
| Genres | 1 | 56th |
Awards & honours
Where this record comes from
portrait—Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:G%C3%BCnter_Raphael_%281903%E2%80%931960%29_by_Ernst_Hoenisch_1926.jpgaliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/91b31f2c-c8d1-4607-ac3e-cc14716348fadiscography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/91b31f2c-c8d1-4607-ac3e-cc14716348facore—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q542279genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q542279seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCnter_Raphaelbiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCnter_Raphael
Why this artist is in the database
- List of composers by name
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: Ernst Hoenisch · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Wikidata: Q542279 · MusicBrainz: 91b31f2c-c8d1-4607-ac3e-cc14716348fa
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