不知道您有沒有認真想過，巴洛克音樂到了中期末期，器樂奏鳴曲就已經發展成為多樂章的音樂形式，繼續被西方古典樂日後沿用下去。這些小提琴奏鳴，三重奏鳴曲，根本就是巴洛克晚期最普遍的室內樂形式了。可是，「鍵盤奏鳴曲」仍然不是常見到的形式。巴哈寫了許多小提琴奏鳴曲，可是大鍵琴曲以組曲居多，沒留下什麼真的奏鳴曲。韓德爾而也是如此。
Kuhnau家族來自波西米亞，原本姓氏實為Kuhn。至於他為什麼後來要改成Kuhnau，也不得而知。出生於Geising，Kuhnau小時就展露音樂天份，並和哥哥一同到Dresden(德勒斯登)接受音樂教育。雖然因為瘟疫而暫時被中斷，Kuhnau接下來在Zittau順利完成他的學業。
稍微知道Telemann(泰雷曼)的背景的人，會知道他當時到Leipzig(萊比錫)大學念法律是有點心不在焉，進而轉向作曲。我們的Kuhnau大師可不是如此呢。在念完音樂之後，他於1682年進入萊比錫大學念法律，畢業後還是個相當成功的律師。不單單如此，Kuhnau是個博學多聞的人，他也是出色的數學家，語言學家，以及寫作家。如此通才的音樂家，要到十九世紀法國的聖桑，才會再見到如此厲害的人物。
Kuhnau成功地在當律師之餘，同時也接下了萊比錫許多音樂的職務，包括各大教堂的音樂總監。Leipzig最重要的教堂，莫過於Thomaskirche。當它的總監(cantor)，不但要為禮拜作曲，要帶合唱團，有時還得教新成員唱歌，是份量相當重的工作。Kuhnau倒底是哪來的本事，可以同時將那麼多事情有效地處理好，我還真難以想像~~~ Kuhnau擔任Thomascantor，可是極俱聲望的一職，而他會持續做到他過逝為止。
Kuhnau在晚年時，他在萊比錫的崇高音樂地位漸漸受到動搖。年輕後輩音樂家Telemann還有自己教出來的學生Fasch，先後成立了小型的樂團Collegium Musicum，無疑是和Thomaskirche的樂團打對台，並招攬了年輕的音樂家過去。儘如此，他晚年仍繼續教出許多出色的學生，如Graupner和Heinichen。而Kuhnau死後，Thomascantor這個重要的職位，則落到了巴洛克最偉大的音樂家 – 巴哈 – 的手上。
Kuhnau和巴哈的關係，不僅僅止於此。今天Kuhnau的名聲，來自他的宗教音樂以及鍵盤樂。這位老前輩的鍵盤作品，巴哈不可能沒有研讀。Kuhnau生前出版的鍵盤兩部作品集Clavier-Übung(直譯為「鍵盤練習」)同樣啟發巴哈日後出版他的鍵盤作品集時也用同樣的名稱。(巴哈出版了四套Clavier-Übung，其中第一套有那六首Partitas，第二套有義大利協奏曲，第四套有「郭德堡變奏曲」)。回到格文最開始討論的鍵盤奏鳴曲，Kuhnau一度被學者認為是第一位以「鍵盤奏鳴曲」當標題作曲的音樂家(1692年)，但今天此說已被推翻。但是，Kuhnau仍是第一位寫鍵盤奏鳴曲的德國作曲家。他最有名的鍵盤奏鳴曲集，是他於1700出版的「聖經奏鳴曲」，裡面六首奏鳴曲的標題，都取自聖經的一個故事。每個樂章也都有單獨的標題，是非常有想像力的音樂，利用各種不同的創作手法描述不同的場景。
說來說去，這張CD並不是收錄他最有名的音樂。如果您真的有認真在念，那不好意思，讓您失望了。不過，這張CD上的音樂倒是他最成功的一套作品，總共印刷了五個版本之多。這部作品的標題為Frische Clavier-Früchte，有「鍵盤鮮果」之意。鮮在，這應當是第一整套命名為「奏鳴曲」的鍵盤作品，而且寫多樂章，非以舞曲形式為主。如此看來，Kuhnau真的算是現代鍵盤奏鳴曲的始祖。
建立在德國優良鍵盤音樂的傳統之上，這些奏鳴曲許多樂章為多聲部，對位性質高的音樂。但在同樣是理性和技巧的嚴格要求之下，Kuhnau的音樂其實仍然展現出許多不同面貌。有些慢的樂章是嚴謹的，但有些卻附上Aria的標題，旋律唯美。有的形式較自由，直逼Stylus Fantasticus(奇異風格)或是讓人聯想起歌劇裡的Recitative(宣敍調)。而許多奏鳴曲的終樂章，為了緩和氣氛，雖沒有明標，但是舞曲節奏是錯不了的。從巴哈還有韓德爾後來的鍵盤音樂中，可以清楚聽到Kuhnau的影子。巴哈之後在和聲和對位上，則是又更超越了Kuhnau的作品。而韓德爾，則是繼承了Kuhnau對於悅耳的主題線的掌握。
鍵盤家John Butt在1990年初期時，曾在加州柏克萊大學任教，Kuhnau「音樂鮮果」還有「聖經奏鳴曲」這些指標性的錄音也是那時完成的。John Butt是風琴師起家的，所以在風琴上的表現比較自如。這張CD，Butt在大鍵琴上的表現，雖不能說亮眼，但相當稱職。許多風琴家死板，不靈活的壞習慣，Butt的彈奏方式聽起來並沒有很嚴重。斷句和整體流暢性偶爾有點不自然，但在其他像是琶音，節奏彈性，以及反覆時的即興，都是我很欣賞的地方。而且說穿了，這種德國鍵盤音樂，不像法國鍵盤曲更加強調彈的方式，聽的人和音樂本身的距離比較近，更容易欣賞。這也是為何在眾多派別裡，我不得不承認德國鍵盤曲仍是我的最愛。
第三首奏鳴曲的開頭主題，有被韓德爾「借」去，在他作品六之十一的協奏曲的Andante出現。而第六首奏鳴曲，開頭即是一首動人的Chaconne，而終樂章要求反覆其Chaconne，意境最是飄飄然。在文章最後附上這二首。
Not going to go through Kuhnau's bio, so I'm going straight to the point. Johann Kuhnau's (1660 – 1722) reputation today probably lies on two things:
(1) He was J.S. Bach's predecessor in holding the position of Leipzig's Thomascantor.
(2) His vivid and descriptive set of 6 Biblical Sonatas, portraying 6 stories from the Bible.
More than this however, Kuhnau is one of the most important and influential German keyboard composers before Bach and Handel. In fact, it could be argued that the modern piano sonata's roots can be traced back to Kuhnau's works. It never occurred to me until recently that despite the sheer quantity of trio sonatas and sonatas for solo instrument and continuo, the solo keyboard sonata really came into the musical scene quite late, in the (very) late Baroque era around 1740. Bach never really wrote keyboard sonatas (they were all suites and partitas), and neither did Handel.
The keyboard sonata didn't just start popping out of nowhere. Where then, did it start ??
It was previously held that Kuhnau was the first composer to use the title of "keyboard sonata," but that has since been debunked. Kuhnau, however, was the first German keyboard sonata composer. He was also probably the first composer to write keyboard sonatas in multiple movements that were not dance pieces (i.e. the suite).
The music recorded here is called the Frische Clavier-Früchte (fresh keyboard fruits). It's not his most well-known collection (The aforementioned Biblical Sonatas are, of course... ), but it was his most successful publication, going through five editions. The term "fresh" refers to the fact that is probably also the first publication devoted entirely to keyboard sonatas. Aside from these innovations, Kuhnau's keyboard music here is rooted in the good German tradition of polyphonic contrapuntal writing, but yet it is melodic and lyrical at the same time. Kuhnau's grasp for song-like motives and musical lines make him similar to Handel in many ways, where the counterpoint simply tags along naturally. Although, both Bach was also clearly influenced by Kuhnau's work, just that Bach really upped the ante in terms of his fugal writing and harmonic complexity. Having said that, these pieces are no easy finger exercises themselves. Kuhnau also does not hold back in displaying his set of tricks in writing expressive music of many moods, ranging from the austere, to cantabile, to free-form, and last but not least, dance rhythms.
John Butt recorded both the Frische Clavier-Früchte and Biblical Sonatas in the early 90s when he was teaching at Berkeley, and those are still regarded today as monumental recordings. John Butt is a great keyboardist, but it does show that he is more comfortable on the organ than on the harpsichord. That being said, John Butt doesn't exhibit some of the distracting traits of many organists-turned-harpsichordists, such as the very stiff playing. Occasionally John Butt's choice of articulation renders the music less fluid, but it isn't anything unbearable. In general, I think the German keyboard works can be more easily appreciated at face value, whereas the exquisite French keyboard music relies more heavily on a skilled interpreter. Despite exposed to French keyboard music lately on a personal level, I would probably pick German music 9 out of 10 times if given a choice, certainly Kuhnau over Louis Couperin.
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