tones, and explained in words.

Except for the unmistakable seriousness of the author, this
description might be taken as a joke, just as in one of the "Bible"
Sonatas the deceit of Jacob is expressed by a deceptive cadence; but
such extreme examples serve to emphasise the author's declaration
that, at times, words are indispensable. Before noticing the sonatas
themselves, one more quotation in reference to the same subject must
be made from this interesting preface. The humblest scholar, Kuhnau
tells us, knows the rule forbidding consecutive perfect consonances,
and he speaks of certain strict _censores_ who expose the clumsiness
of _musical poets_ who have refused to be bound by that rule. "But,"
says Kuhnau, in lawyer-like language: "_Cessante ratione prohibitionis
cessat ipsa prohibitio_." The term _musical poets_ (the italics are
ours) is a remarkable one; Kuhnau himself, of course, was one of them.

Philipp Spitta, in his _Life of J.S. Bach_, devotes one short
paragraph to the Bible stories, and gives one or two brief quotations
from the second; but they certainly deserve a longer notice.

The 1st Sonata is entitled "The Fight between David and Goliath." It
opens with a bold section, intended, as we learn from a
superscription, to represent _the bravado of Goliath_. The giant's
characteristic theme, on which the whole section is built, is as
follows:--

[Music illustration]

Then follows a section in A minor. A Chorale represents the prayer to
God of the terrified Israelites, while the palpitating quaver
accompaniment stands for the terror which seized them at sight of the
giant; the harmonies are very striking. This Chorale setting should be
compared with one by Bach (Spitta's _Life of Bach_, English edition,
vol. i. p. 216), said to owe its existence to the influence of Georg
Boehm, organist at Lueneburg at the commencement of the eighteenth
century. Next comes a little pastoral movement (C major, three-four
time) expressive of David's courage and of his confidence in God. Then
a tone-picture is given of the encounter; the heavy tread of the
Philistine is heard in the bass, while semiquaver passages, evolved
from a figure in the preceding movement, evidently portray the
spirited youth. One realistic bar scarcely needs the explanation given
by Kuhnau that it is the slinging of the stone which smote the
Philistine in his forehead; and the same may be said of the "Goliath
falls" in the following bar:--

[M