Auf meinen lieben Gott

Johann Kuhnau (1660-1722) was a German composer and, later in life, Thomaskantor in Leipzig. He studied music in Dresden with Kittel (Caspar) and Krüger. He came to Leipzig in 1682 where he succeeded Kühnel as organist at St. Thomas’s in 1684. In 1700 he was made musical director of the University and of the two principal churches, and in 1701 Kantor. As Kantor of the St. Thomas he taught, amongst others, Christoph Graupner and Johann David Heinichen.

Kuhnau’s keyboard works exerted a tremendous influence upon keyboard style of the period and his Neue Clavierübung was the precedent for Bach’s own four volumes, the last of which contained the Goldberg Variations. Kuhnau composed church cantatas, suites, and descriptive sonatas for harpsichord.

This choral prelude is transcribed from manuscript Mus.ms. 22541 III, owned by the Staatsbibliothek Berlin.

The score can be found here: http://partitura.org/index.php/johann-kuhnau-auf-meinen-lieben-gott/