form which they displayed, and of their tendency to programme-music;
and perhaps he did not speak of them to his sons, lest they should be
led astray. For, as we have already mentioned, Sebastian Bach seems to
have yielded for a moment to the Kuhnau influence, but, if we may
judge from his subsequent art-work, he did not feel satisfied that it
was a good one.

In 1742, E. Bach dedicated the six sonatas (composed in 1740) to
Frederick the Great. The title-page runs thus:--

Sei Sonate
per Cembalo
che all' Augusta Maestà
di
Frederico II.
Rè di Prussia
D.D.D.
l'Autore
Carlo Filippo Emanuele Bach
Musico di Camera di S.M.
Alle spese di Balth. Schmid
in Norimberga.

And in the obsequious dedication, the composer describes them as works
"debolissimo Talento mio." As Bach's earliest published sonatas, they
are, for our purpose, of special interest. Their order is as
follows:--

Sonata 1, in F Poco Allegro, Andante, Vivace.
" 2, " B flat Vivace, Adagio, Allegro assai.