This remarkable musician was born, April 1660,[36] at Geysing, where
his grandfather, who, on account of his religious opinions, had been
forced to leave Bohemia, had settled. Already in his ninth year young
Kuhnau showed gifts for science and art. He had a pleasing voice, and
first studied under Salomon Krügner, and afterwards under Christian
Kittel,[37] organist of the Elector at Dresden. His next teachers were
his brother Andreas Kuhnau, Alexander Hering,[38] and Vincenzo
Albrici. In 1680 the plague broke out at Dresden, and Kuhnau returned
to his parents. He then went to Zittau with a certain Erhard Titius,
who had been _Praefectus_ at the Kreuzschule, Dresden, and received
help from the court organist, Moritz Edelmann, also from the
"celebrated" Weise. A motet of Kuhnau's was given at Zittau under his
direction. After the death of Titius, Kuhnau resided for a time in the
house of J.J. von Hartig, judge at Zittau. In 1682 he went to Leipzig,
where D. Scherzer endeavoured to obtain for him the post of organist
at St. Thomas'; Kühnel, however, was appointed. The latter died in
1684, and was succeeded by Kuhnau, who in 1700 also became cantor of
St. Thomas'. He devoted much of his time to jurisprudence. Among other
things, he wrote a curious satire, entitled _Der musikalische
Quacksalber_, published in 1700. There remain in manuscript,
_Tractatus de tetrachordo_ and _Introductio ad compositionem
musicalem_. Kuhnau had many pupils; we know of two who afterwards
became distinguished men. The one was Christoph Graupner (1683-1760),
who in 1710 became capellmeister at Darmstadt. In 1722, on the death
of Kuhnau, Graupner,[39] who had been prize scholar under him,
presented his testimonials, was examined, and seemed likely to become
cantor as his teacher's successor. Meanwhile, however, John Sebastian
Bach offered himself as candidate, and as Dr. Pepusch before Handel at
Cannons in 1710, so did Graupner retire before his great rival.
Mattheson, in his _Ehren-Pforte_ (p. 410), tells us that "as a