strong. Of Froberger special mention will be made later on. There was
one man, Diderich Becker, who published sonatas for violins and bass
already in 1668, and these, if we mistake not, must have been well
known to Kuhnau. Apart from the character of the music, the title of
the work, _Musikalische Frülings Früchte_, and the religious style of
the preface, remind one of Kuhnau's "Frische Früchte," also of his
preface to the "Bible" Sonatas. It is curious to find the quaint
expression "unintelligent birds" used first by Becker, and afterwards
by Kuhnau.

Let us describe briefly the above-mentioned B flat Sonata. The first
movement is in common time, but the composer gave it no heading. It is
generally supposed (Becker, Rimbault, Pauer) to be an Allegro;
_moderato_ might well be added, for the stately, Handelian-like (the
anachronism must be excused) music will scarcely bear a rapid _tempo_.
The movement opens with an eight-bar phrase, closing on the dominant.
Then the music, evolved from previous material, passes rapidly through
various related keys. After this modulation section there is a cadence
to F major, and in this, the dominant key, something like a new
subject appears, though it is closely allied to the first. A return is
soon made to the principal key, but there is no repetition of the
opening theme. After a cadence ending on the tonic (B flat), and two
coda-like bars, comes a fugal movement, still in the same key. The
vigorous subject, the well-contrasted counterpoint, the interesting
episodes, and many attractive details help one to forget the monotony
of key so prevalent in the days in which this sonata was written.
This, and indeed other fugues of Kuhnau show strong foreshadowings of
Handel and Bach; of this matter, however, more anon. The counterpoint
to the third entry of the subject is evolved from the opening subject
of the sonata. The third movement consists of a fine Adagio in E flat,