The publication of Markus Heinrich Grauel’s Viola Concerto in E flat major in 2015 marked the start of a series of editions by ortus musikverlag dedicated to previously unknown compositions for viola from the 1760s and 1770s. This series was largely based on contemporary copies of works originating from Berlin and Potsdam, which came to light following the rediscovery in 1999 in Kyiv of the music archive of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin – long believed to have been lost – and its return to Berlin a few years later. Consequently, critical editions were published of, amongst others, the viola concertos by Johann Gottlieb Graun (E-flat major [GraunWV Cv:XIII:116], 2015), Carl Heinrich Hermann Benda (F major, 2016), Ignaz Mara (E-flat major, 2018) and the solo sonata for viola and basso continuo by Franz Benda (C minor [LeeB 3.137], 2018) were subsequently realised and published. All these compositions bear witness to an early appreciation, in the Prussian royal capitals, for this middle-range instrument, which was otherwise used almost exclusively for accompaniment.
Markus Heinrich Grauel was born on 25 February 1720 in Beuernfeld near Eisenach and was the eldest son of a blacksmith and armourer. His two younger brothers, Johann David Grauel (1724–1780) and Johann Michael Grauel (1730–1791), were also to pursue musical careers later in life. From 1743 until the dissolution of the court orchestra in 1752/53, and beyond that until 1754, Grauel worked alongside his father-in-law J. C. Hertel (who had held the post of concertmaster there since 1742), Hertel’s two sons, J. W. Hertel and Johann Christian Hertel the Younger (1729–1801), as well as his younger brother J. M. Grauel, presumably as a violinist and then, following a prolonged absence in Berlin, once again from early 1762 for a short time as a cellist in the new ducal court orchestra of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Around the turn of the year 1763/64, however, Grauel accepted a post as a cellist in the Prussian court orchestra. This position was to be his lifelong post. He had retired about a year before his death on 27 May 1799. Only a few works from his musical oeuvre have survived. These consist mainly of two violin concertos, a cello concerto and two viola concertos. With the publication of the Concerto in C major, both of Grauel’s viola concertos are now available in critical editions.
