Sonata in G: Cantabile & Allegro Telemann (1681-1767) [FLUTE & PIANO? HARPSICHORD?]
Susan Addington, Flute
“When In Our Music God is Glorified”
The Order of Chivalry: Reason & the Horse’s Shaffron W. Zeitler [ORGAN]
Georg Phillip Telemann was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family’s wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hildesheim, Telemann entered the University of Leipzig to study law, but eventually settled on a career in music. He held important positions in Leipzig, Sorau, Eisenach, and Frankfurt before settling in Hamburg in 1721, where he became musical director of that city’s five main churches. While Telemann’s career prospered, his personal life was always troubled: his first wife died less than two years after their marriage, and his second wife had extramarital affairs and accumulated a gambling debt which amounted to a sum larger than Telemann’s annual income. (In a day when unpaid debts could land you in prison.) The composer was saved from bankruptcy by the efforts of his friends, and by the numerous successful music and poetry publications Telemann made during the years 1725 to 1740. By 1736 husband and wife were no longer living together because of their financial ‘incompatibility’.
Although still active and fulfilling the many duties of his job, Telemann became less productive in his 60’s. He took up theoretical studies, as well as hobbies such as gardening and cultivating exotic plants, something of a fad in Hamburg at that time, and a hobby shared by Handel. Most of the music of his 70’s appears to have been parodied from earlier works. Telemann’s eldest son Andreas died in 1755, and Andreas’ son Georg Michael Telemann was raised by the aging composer. Troubled by health problems and failing eyesight, Telemann was still composing into his 80’s. Upon his death age 86 he was succeeded at his Hamburg post by his godson, Johann Sebastian Bach’s second son Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach.
Telemann is one of the most prolific composers in Western history, at least in terms of surviving oeuvre. He was considered by his contemporaries to be one of the leading German composers of the time, and he was compared favorably both to his friend Johann Sebastian Bach, who made Telemann the godfather and namesake of his son Carl Philipp Emanuel, and to Handel, whom Telemann also knew personally. As part of his duties, he wrote a considerable amount of music for educating organists under his direction. This includes 48 chorale preludes and 20 small fugues (modal fugues) to accompany his chorale harmonizations for 500 hymns. His music incorporates French, Italian, and German national styles, and he was at times even influenced by Polish popular music. He remained at the forefront of all new musical tendencies, and his music stands as an important link between the late Baroque and early Classical styles.
Telemann was much a more famous and popular composer than Bach in their day (Bach’s music regarded as rather ‘old fashioned’). Indeed, when Bach applied for the position of Cantor at Leipzig (which amounted to music director for all of Leipzig), the city council’s first choice was Telemann, who turned down the gig. Their next choice was Johann Graupner (1683-1760), the court chapel master of Darmstadt, but the Prince of Darmstadt refused to release him. Their third choice was Johann Fasch (1688-1758), the Kapellmeister of Zerbst, who refused the post when he discovered that he would have to teach Latin. Finally, the council decided (and this is recorded in their minutes): “Since the best men cannot be obtained, we must make do with the mediocre.”(Namely, Bach.) In essence, Bach took on Telemann’s discard.