August Kühnel (3 August 1645 – ca. 1700) was a German composer and accomplished

viola da gamba The viola da gamba (), or viol, or informally gamba, is a bowed and fretted string instrument that is played (i.e. "on the leg"). It is distinct from the later violin family, violin, or ; and it is any one of the earlier viol family of bow (m ...

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 Maurice of Saxe-Zeitz (28 March 1619 – 4 December 1681) was a duke of Saxe-Zeitz and member of the House of Wettin. Born in Dresden, he was the youngest surviving son of John George I, Elector of Saxony, and his second wife Magdalene Sibylle ...

, 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 (; 3 August 1654 – 23 March 1730), member 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-Kassel, and Hedwig Sophi ...

. 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. Kühnel
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VistaMare Musica
early music site

German Baroque composers German classical composers 1645 births 1700s deaths German male classical composers People from Delmenhorst {{germany-composer-stub