(b Breslau, 12 Oct 1686; d Dresden, 16 Oct 1750). German lutenist and composer. He served in Breslau, then spent 1708-14 in Italy where he worked with the Scarlattis in Rome. By 1717 he had joined the Saxon court chapel at Dresden. He performed in cities including London, Vienna and Leipzig (where he met Bach in 1739). He was both the greatest of all lutenists and the most prolific of solo lute composers, writing nearly 600 pieces. Most are grouped in dance suites (often starting with an unbarred prelude); they are mainly late Baroque in style, but later works show more galant features. He also wrote sonatas and concertos for lute with other instruments.
His father Johann Jacob (c1662-1754) was a lutenist (at the Palatine court, from 1720 at Mannheim), as were two of his brothers. Johann Sigismund (after 1690-1737) served at the Palatine court, becoming director of instrumental music by 1732, and wrote mostly lute music (concertos, sonatas etc). Johann Adolf Faustinus (1741-1814) worked at the Dresden court from 1763 and travelled widely; he composed many pieces for lute (by then old-fashioned) and some for the more popular guitar.
