Kuhnau, Johann 1660 - 1722
Author: Miyamoto, Yumi
Last updated：May 1, 2007
Author: Miyamoto, Yumi
German composer, keyboardist, music theorist, humanist, writer, and lawyer. He showed musical talent early on and possessed a beautiful voice. He studied organ, Italian, and French in Dresden, and in 1682, he enrolled at Leipzig University to study law.
In 1684, he was appointed organist at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. In 1701, he was elected Kantor. The position of Kantor at St. Thomas Church was one of the most prominent and demanding in the German musical world of the time, requiring "broad medieval education, proficiency in music, law, theology, rhetoric, poetry, mathematics, and foreign languages." His successor was J.S. Bach. Kuhnau held the position of Kantor at St. Thomas Church until his death in 1722.
Among Kuhnau's keyboard works, the collection of sonatas Biblische Historien (Biblical Stories), published in Leipzig in 1700, is significant. This collection contains six multi-movement sonatas based on Old Testament themes, each with a descriptive title. Other works include numerous church cantatas, but these are largely unknown today.
Works(12)
Piano Solo (5)
sonata (4)
Frische Clavier-Fruchte, oder sieben Sonaten von guter Invention und Manier No.1
Key: g-moll Composed in: 1696 Playing time: 6 min 30 sec
Frische Clavier-Fruchte, oder sieben Sonaten von guter Invention und Manier No.2
Key: D-Dur Composed in: 1696 Playing time: 5 min 00 sec
Frische Clavier-Fruchte, oder sieben Sonaten von guter Invention und Manier No.3
Key: F-Dur Composed in: 1696 Playing time: 8 min 20 sec
Musicalische Vorstellung einiger biblischer Historien in sechs Sonaten auf dem Claviere zu spielen
Composed in: 1700 Playing time: 1 hr 14 min 40 sec
etude (4)