August Kühnel (3 August 1645 – ca. 1700) was a German composer and accomplished
viola da gamba performer.
Biography
Kühnel was the son of the Mecklenburg chamber musician
Samuel Kühnel. Already in 1661 (at age 16), after receiving education in Güstrow and France, he was appointed ''Violdigambist'' in the court orchestra of
Maurice, Duke of Saxe-Zeitz, a position he held until 1681. After the duke's death in 1682, Kühnel went to England to study. In 1686, he was appointed director of instrumental music at the Darmstadt court by Countess
Elisabeth Dorothea von Sachsen-Coburg where he remained until 1688. After jobs in Weimar and Dresden, he found his last job in 1695 at the court of
Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
Charles of Hesse-Kassel (german: Karl von Hessen-Kassel; 3 August 1654 – 23 March 1730), of the House of Hesse, was the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1670 to 1730.
Childhood
Charles was the second son of William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kass ...
.
Kühnel's main instrument was the viola da gamba for which he also wrote numerous compositions. In 1698, his first collection of trio sonatas for viola da gamba was published as ''14 Sonate ò Partite ad una o due viole da gamba, con il basso continuo'' and printed in Kassel. This collection includes 6 sonatas for two gambas and 8 sonatas for one gamba.
[http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=842977038781] This was the first printing of German trio sonatas in Germany.
References
External links
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Free scores by A. Kühnelfro
VistaMare Musicaearly music site
German Baroque composers
German classical composers
1645 births
1700s deaths
German male classical composers
People from Delmenhorst
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