Page:Rolland - A musical tour through the land of the past.djvu/15

Rh Keiser, Telemann and Händel, as one of the four greatest German composers of the century. He did indeed possess a depth of feeling, and at the same time a beauty of form, a grace compounded of strength and lucidity, which even to-day would make his name a household word—if society were capable of taking a genuine interest in music without being urged to do so by fashion. Kuhnau was one of the creators of the modern sonata; he wrote "suites" for the clavier which are models of spirited grace, occasionally tinged with reverie. He composed some descriptive poems—"programme music"—under the title of Biblical Sonatas; cantatas, sacred and profane; and a Passion, which makes him, if we are to tell the truth, not only the immediate predecessor of Bach at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, but also, in a great many respects, his indisputable model.

Here are the terms in which he presents to the public one of his principal musical works. They will give some idea of his quiet, benign graciousness and his generous nature. He begs indulgence for the fantastic spirit in which his charming sonatas were written (Clavier-Früchte aus 7 Sonaten); he says that he has employed "the same liberty as that employed by Nature, when, hanging the fruits on the trees, she gives one branch less or more than another … It did not take me long to produce them: it was with me just as it is in certain countries where, thanks to the unusual heat, everything grows with such rapidity that the harvest may be reaped a month after sowing. While writing these seven sonatas I experienced such eagerness that without neglecting my other occupations I wrote one every day, so that this work, which I began on