One of the last German musicians to study in Italy, Naumann first studied in Dresden, near his hometown, and was later afforded the opportunity to travel extensively with a Swedish violinist. In Padua he met with Tartini who recognized his talent, which was as a composer of opera and vocal works. During his travels he made his debut in Venice with the intermezzo "Il tesoro insidiato". Naumann's career was launched. Through his successes and recommendations from Hasse he became a church composer for the Dresden court, Kapellmeister eleven years later, reformer of the Swedish opera -- where he composed what became known as the Swedish national opera "Gustaf Wasa" -- traveled to Copenhagen improving the Danish opera, and finally Naumann was appointed the Oberkapellmeister in Dresden for life (1786). Throughout his career Naumann composed numerous operas, oratorios, masses, lieder, cantatas, and some instrumental works. Characteristically his early works were Neopolitan in nature showing the strong Italian influence, but his works also demonstrated the influences of Hasse and Martini. His later works however, turned away from these impressions and took up qualities from Gluck including ballets and choruses in most of his operas. Naumann's later melodic lines were dominant and admired as were some march tempos and nuances of the German Baroque. Some of Naumann's operas included "Orpheus og Eurydike," "Medea," "Protesilao," "La clemenza di Tito," "Solimano," and "Aci e Galatea." Interestingly Naumann was aware of the "Storm and Stress" movement in German literature. He applied the ideas contained in the movement to later compositions demonstrated through harmonic differentiations, repetitive musical motifs and texts dealing with natural phenomena and friendship. Instrumental works, sonatas and chamber works, show Naumann's keen interest in the glass harmonica -- invented by Benjamin Franklin -- between 1780 and his death. ~ Keith Johnson, Rovi