Joseph Martin Kraus

Joseph Martin Kraus (1756–1792) was a German-born Roman Catholic composer and conductor who became a leading musical figure at the court of Gustav III of Sweden. Born at Miltenberg am Main on June 20, 1756, he attended school in Mannheim and later studied at the universities of Mainz, Erfurt, and Göttingen. His student years brought him into contact with the literary and musical culture of the German-speaking lands at a time when the expressive ideals associated with Sturm und Drang were influential.

Kraus moved to Stockholm in 1778. He was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in 1780 and became second conductor of the Royal Court Orchestra at the Royal Opera in 1781. In 1782 Gustav III sent him on an extended European study journey. By 1788 Kraus had become chief conductor of the Royal Court Orchestra and director of the Academy's educational work. His surviving output includes operas, symphonies, chamber music, songs, cantatas, sacred works, and ceremonial music for the Swedish court.

Modern hymnological research has also connected Kraus with the tune now called LYONS. The melody circulated under conflicting attributions to Pleyel and members of the Haydn family, but surviving eighteenth-century sources have led recent researchers to regard a theme by Kraus as the most likely origin. LYONS later became an established setting for several English hymn texts, including “Ye Servants of God, Your Master Proclaim.” Kraus died in Stockholm on December 15, 1792.