Johann Philipp Kirnberger (alsoKernberg; 24 April 1721,Saalfeld – 27 July 1783, Berlin) was a musician, composer (primarily offugues), andmusic theorist. He studied the organ withJohann Peter Kellner and Heinrich Nicolaus Gerber, and starting in 1738 he studied with the violinist Meil inSondershausen, but most significant is the time he spent from 1739 until 1741 (with breaks) studying performance and composition withJohann Sebastian Bach.[1][2]
Between 1741 and 1751 Kirnberger lived and worked in Poland for powerful magnates including Lubomirski, Poninski, and Rzewuski before ending up at the Benedictine Cloister inLviv (then part of Poland). He spent much time collecting Polish national dances and compiled them in his treatiseDie Charaktere der Tänze.[3]: 211 Kirnberger played a significant role in the intellectual and cultural exchange between Germany and Poland in the mid-18th century.[4]
Kirnberger became a violinist at the court ofFrederick the Great in 1751. He was the music director to the PrussianPrincess Anna Amalia from 1758 until his death.
Kirnberger greatly admiredJohann Sebastian Bach, deeming him "the greatest of all composers".[1] Kirnberger sought to secure the publication of all of Bach'schorale settings, which finally appeared after Kirnberger's death; seeKirnberger chorale preludes (BWV 690–713). Many of Bach's manuscripts have been preserved in Kirnberger's library (the "Kirnberger collection").
Kirnberger is known today primarily for his theoretical workDie Kunst des reinen Satzes in der Musik (The Art of Strict Composition in Music, 1774, 1779). Thewell-tempered tuning systems known as "Kirnberger II" and "Kirnberger III" are associated with his name (seeKirnberger temperament), as is a rational version ofequal temperament (seeschisma). One of his most familiar compositions isFuga in C-dur für Orgel ("Fanfare" Fugue), which was formerly attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach and then to his sonCarl Philipp Emanuel Bach.
