This is but a modest essay in tone-painting compared with a certain production by Johann Kuhnau, a predecessor of Bach, who depicted entire biblical stories in a set of six sonatas for the clavichord, which were published in Leipzig in the year 1700. Each sonata is prefaced by a programme, which informs the player what is meant by the several movements--a very necessary proceeding. The stories depicted are from the Old Testament. One of the sonatas is entitled, 'Jacob's Marriage;' another, 'Saul cured by David's Music;' another, 'The Death of Jacob;' and so on. To show how far Kuhnau ventures into detailed description, the explanation printed with the sonata called 'Gideon' may find a place here. It runs as follows:--"1. Gideon mistrusts the promises made to him by God that he should be victorious.--2. His fear at the sight of the great host of the enemy.--3. His increasing courage at the relation of the dream of the enemy, and of its interpretation.--4. The martial sound of the trombones and trumpets, and likewise the breaking of the pitchers and the cry of the people.--5. The flight of the enemy and their pursuit by the Israelites.--6. The rejoicing of the Israelites for their remarkable victory." Still earlier, in the seventeenth century, Dieterich Buxtehude depicted in seven suites for the clavichord, 'The Nature and Qualities of the Planets;' and Johann Jacob Frohberger, about the same time, composed for the harpsichord a 'Plainte, faite ‡ Londres, pour passer la mÈlancolie,' in which he describes his eventful journey from Germany to England--how in France he was attacked by robbers, and how afterwards in the Channel, between Calais and Dover, he was plundered by Tunisian pirates. Frohberger composed also an _allemande_ intended to commemorate an event which he experienced on the Rhine. The notation is so contrived as to represent a bridge over the Rhine. Mattheson is said to have cleverly introduced into one of his scores, by means of the notation, the figure of a rainbow. Such music one must not hear; enough if one sees it in print. It deserves to be classed with the silent music mentioned in Shakespeare's 'Othello,' Act III., Scene 1:-- "_Clown._--But, masters, here's money for you: and the General so likes your music, that he desires you, for love's sake, to make no more noise with it. "_First Musician._--Well, sir, we will not. "_Clown._--If you have any music that may not be heard, to't again: but, as they say, to hear music the General does not greatly care. "_First Musician._--We have none such, sir. "_Clown._--Then put your pipes in your bag, for I'll away: go, vanish into air; away!"