Four Sonatas

Jakob Friedrich Kleinknecht (1722-1794) was vice kapellmeister and musical director at the court of the Margrave of Brandenburg-Culmbach in Bayreuth and later in Ansbach. His compositions show him to be a representative of the sensitive style who did not deny Berlin influences in his Bayreuth setting. Still he proves to be capable of musical fantasy, inventiveness and autonomy which are nothing short of that of the famous C.Ph.E. Bach. Only a fraction of Kleinknecht's works has been issued in modern editions. The four sonatinas were found on manuscripts, and this is the first time they are being made public in a handy issue which comes with a revision report.