Kurt Graunke (September 20, 1915 in Stettin, Germany – June 5, 2005 in Munich) was a German composer and conductor.
He has been labelled as one of the worst composers of all time by some music critics[1] He studied violin, becoming the second concertmaster at the age of 17 of the local orchestra.
In 1934 he began studying violin with Gustav Havemann, composition with Adolf Lessle and Hermann Grabner at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik, but had to withdraw in 1935 for financial reasons.
[2] After the war, he moved to Munich where he started the Symphony Orchestra Graunke, conducting it until 1989.
[3] He composed 9 symphonies, a Violin Concerto, a String Quartet, and many short works for orchestra.