Christian Gottfried Krause (17 April 1717 – 4 May 1770) was a German lawyer, composer and music commentator.
Krause was born in Winzig (today Wińsko, Poland) into a musical family.
His father was a Stadtpfeifer from whom he learned to play the flute, violin, keyboard and timpani.
Krause studied law at the University in Frankfurt an der Oder, where he attended lectures by Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, among others.
Krause's instrumental output includes a small amount of chamber music, orchestral sinfonias and partitas and keyboard works.