Johann Heinrich Kittel — Complete Keyboard Works (1682)

Johann Heinrich Kittel (1652–1682):

Complete Keyboard Works



Roberto Marioni Spinet (2022) | 1/5-Comma Meantone



Johann Heinrich Kittel, not to be confused with the later pupil of J. S. Bach, was a teacher of Johann Kuhnau, Bach's predecessor at Leipzig. His surviving keyboard legacy is astonishingly small: twelve preludes and a Capriccio with twelve variations, preserved in Daniel Croner's Brașov Tablature of 1682, the year Kittel died.

The twelve preludes explore a fascinating succession of major and minor tonalities:

c/C – d/D – e – F – g/G – a/A – B♭ – b

The minor-key works are consistently titled Praeambula, while the major-key works are Praeludia. John H. Baron has suggested that Kuhnau may have inherited from Kittel the idea of arranging keyboard preludes in successive keys, a concept that would eventually find its fullest expression in Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier.

For this performance, I chose Andrea Bonzi's sampled Roberto Marioni spinet, tuned in 1/5-comma meantone. Unlike equal temperament, each tonality possesses its own harmonic character. As Kittel moves through the keys, increasingly striking colors emerge, culminating in the remarkably intense B-minor Praeambulum.

The concluding Capriccio reverses the experience: twelve variations over a fixed two-measure ground bass, bringing the listener gently home after the changing tonal landscape.

These thirteen pieces appear to constitute Kittel's complete surviving keyboard works, making this a rare opportunity to hear an almost-lost musical legacy.

This recording also celebrates the release of my first digitally distributed album, J. H. Kittel: Complete Keyboard Works, under The Singing Organist moniker!

Further historical background, recording information, and edition credits appear in the first comment.