August Kuhnel Free Sheet Music

Select one of the 1 pieces below.

• Sonata a due viola da gamba n°6

About August Kuhnel

August Kühnel (3 August 1645 - c. 1700) was a German composer and accomplished viola da gamba performer. He was born at Delmenhorst. Kühnel was born as a son of Mecklenburg chamber musician Samuel Kühnel. Already in 1661 (at his 16 years), when receiving education in Güstrow and France, he was appointed Violdigambist within the court orchestra of Maurice, Duke of Saxe-Zeitz, a foothold he held until 1681. Once 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. Once jobs in Weimar and Dresden, he found his last job in 1695 at the court of Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. Kühnel's main instrument was viola da gamba for that he also wrote numerous compositions. In 1698, his initial assortment of trio sonatas for viola da gamba was printed 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 eight sonatas for one gamba. This was the primary print of German trio sonatas in Germany.