beautiful soprano voice was noticed at the school where he was educated, and soon secured him an appointment in the choir of the city of Dresden. His masters were Grundig and Petzold, and at an early age he composed a number of sacred cantatas and other pieces for the church service. He completed his studies under Schmidt, and profited much by the Italian operas which were performed at Dresden under Lotti, the celebrated composer. After his voice had changed to a tenor, he made his début at the opera of Brunswick, in a work by Schurmann, an inferior composer of the day; but not being satisfied with the arias assigned him he re-wrote them, so much to the satisfaction of the court that he was commissioned to write an opera for the next season. This work, Pollidoro (1726), and five other operas written for Brunswick, spread his fame all over Germany. Other works, mostly of a sacred character, including two settings of the Passion, also belong to the Brunswick period. It was there that Frederick the Great, at that time crown prince of Prussia, heard the singer, and immediately engaged him for his private chapel at Castle Reinsberg. There Graun remained for five years, and wrote a number of cantatas, mostly to words written by Frederick himself in French, and translated into Italian by Boltarelli. On his accession to the throne in 1740, Frederick sent Graun to Italy to engage singers for a new opera to be established at Berlin. Graun remained a year on his travels, earning universal applause as a singer in the chief cities of Italy. After his return to Berlin he was appointed royal chapel-master, with a salary of 2000 thalers (£300). In this capacity he wrote twenty-eight operas, all to Italian words, of which the last, Merope (1756), is perhaps the most perfect. But of infinitely greater importance than these is his oratorio the Death of Jesus, which is still annually performed at Berlin. It is here that Graun shows his skill as a contrapuntist, and his originality of melodious invention. In the Italian operas he imitates the florid style of his time, but there also considerable dramatic power is occasionally shown in the recitatives. Graun died on the 8th of August 1759, at Berlin, in the same house in which, thirty-two years later, Meyerbeer was born.
GRAVELINES (Flemish Gravelinghe, German Gravelingen), a fortified seaport town of France, in the department of Nord and arrondissement of Dunkirk, is situated near the mouth of the Aa, 11 miles S.W. of Dunkirk. The principal buildings are a church of the 16th century, the magazine, and the town hall. The harbour is only accessible at flood tide, but there is a considerable shipping trade in fish, apples, vegetables, and eggs. Shipbuilding is also carried on, and there are salt refineries, sail and linen manufactories, saw mills and meal mills. The fortifications were constructed anew by Vauban in the reign of Louis XIV. For its defence the land, to the distance of a mile all round, can be laid under water at pleasure. The population in 1876 was 4182.
Gravelines was formed in 1160 by Count Thierry of Flanders, was conquered by the English in 1383, and came into the possession of the duke of Burgundy in 1405. It is celebrated for the victory gained by the Spanish under Egmont over the French under Marshal de Thermes, 13th July 1558. It was taken by the duke of Orleans in 1644, retaken by Archduke Leopold in 1652, and again taken by the French under Vauban in 1658, after which it was confirmed to France by the treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659.
GRAVESEND, a municipal and parliamentary borough, river-port, and market-town in the county of Kent, England, is situated on the right bank of the Thames opposite Tilbury Fort, 30 miles below London by the river, and 24 miles by rail. It extends about 2 miles along the river bank, occupying a slight acclivity which reaches its summit at Windmill Hill, whence extensive views are obtained of the river, with its windings and shipping. The older and lower part of the town is irregularly built, with narrow and inconvenient streets, but the upper and newer portion contains several handsome streets, squares, and terraces. Gravesend is the boundary of the port of London. It has three piers, the town pier, erected in 1836, and belonging to the corporation, the terrace pier, built about 1840, and a new pier and station lately erected by the London, Tilbury, and Southend Railway Company. The town is a favourite resort of the inhabitants of London, both for excursions and as a summer residence. The principal buildings are the town-hall, a neat and conspicuous Doric edifice erected in 1836; the parish church of Gravesend, erected on the site of an ancient building destroyed by fire in 1727; Milton parish church, in the Late Decorated style, erected in the time of Edward II.; the county courts, the clubhouse of the Royal Thames Yacht Club, the custom-house, the assembly-rooms, the workmen's hall, the free grammar school, the almshouses for aged persons, and the dispensary and infirmary. East of the town are the earthworks designed to assist Tilbury Fort in obstructing the passage of an enemy's force. They were originally constructed on Vauban's system in the reign of Charles II., and some years ago they were strengthened at the cost of nearly £150,000. Gravesend has some import trade in coal and timber, and fishing, especially of shrimps, is carried on extensively. The principal other industries are boat-building, ironfounding, brewing, and soap-boiling. Fruit and vegetables are largely grown in the neighbourhood for the London market. Since 1867 Gravesend has returned a member to parliament. The municipal borough includes the parishes of Gravesend and Milton. The population of the municipal borough in 1871 was 21,265, and of the parliamentary 27,493.
Gravesend occurs in Domesday Book under the name Gravesham. It was burnt by the French in 1377. In 1573 it obtained a charter of incorporation from Queen Elizabeth, who also renewed the right, first conferred by Richard II., of regulating the "Long Ferry" (or passage from London) and enacting a fee from the "barges, till-boats, light-horsemen (hobellers), and wherries" on the river.
GRAVINA, a city of Italy, in the province of Bari, is situated on a hill to the left of the river Gravina, 7 miles from Altamura, and 37 S.W. of Bari. It is surrounded by tower-flanked walls, and has a cathedral, and a castle which belongs to the Orsini family, of which the eldest branch still keeps the title of duke of Gravina. A great cattle fair is held in the town on April 20; a fine breed of horses is raised in the neighbourhood; nitre is collected from the tufa rock of the district; and cheese, macaroni, and earthen ware are manufactured. Population in 1871, 14,194.
GRAVINA, Giovanni Vincenzo (1664-1718), an Italian litterateur and jurisconsult, was born at Roggiano, a small town near Cosenza in Calabria, January 20, 1664. He was descended from a distinguished family, and under the direction of his maternal uncle, Gregorio Caloprese, who possessed some reputation as a poet and philosopher, received a learned education, after which he studied at Naples civil and canon law. In 1689 he came to Rome, where in 1695 he united with several others of literary tastes in forming the Academy of Arcadians. A schism occurred in the academy in 1711, and Gravina and his followers founded in opposition to it the Academy of Quirina. From Innocent XII. Gravina received the offer of various ecclesiastical honours, but declined them from a, disinclination to enter the clerical profession. In 1699 he was appointed to the chair of civil law in the college of La Sapienza, and in 1703 he was transferred to the chair of canon law. He died at Rome January 6, 1718. He was the adoptive father of Metastasio.
Gravina is the author of a number of works of great erudition, the principal being his Origines Juris Civilis, completed in 3 vols. in 1713, and his De Romano Imperio, 1712. A French translation of the former appeared in 1775, of which a second edition was published in 1822. His collected works were published at Leipsic in 1737, and at Naples, with notes by Mascovius, in 1756.
