Telemann, Georg Philipp - Dikmans on Performance

# Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767): A Biography ![[Telemann.png]] Georg Philipp Telemann by Valentin Daniel Preisler (1750) Telemann was the most prolific composer of his time. He was widely regarded as Germany’s leading composer during the first half of the 18th century and continued to be an influential musical innovator throughout his career. > [!box] Telemann influenced and inspired the next generation of German composers, especially those working in Berlin in the second half of the 18th century, and his music provides an important link between the Baroque and early Classical styles. Telemann wrote 3 autobiographies in the middle of his career: - The first — dated 30 September 1718 — was published in Johann Mattheson’s *Grosse General-Bass-Schule* (1731). - The second is a short letter to Johann Gottfried Walther — dated 20 December 1729 — that provides information for inclusion in his *Musicalisches Lexicon* (1732). - The third is the most comprehensive. It was written in 1740 and was published in Johann Mattheson’s *Grundlage einer Ehren-Pforte* (1740). --- ## Magdeburg, Hildesheim and Leipzig Telemann was born in Magdeburg on 14 March 1681 into an upper middle-class family. The last professional musician in the family was in the late 16th century (his paternal great-grandfather). Telemann was a precocious child. At age 10 he had singing lessons, organ lessons and taught himself the recorder, violin and zither. He taught himself the principles of composition by transcribing the music of other composers and by age 12 he had written arias, motets, instrumental pieces and an opera. While a student in Hildesheim (1697–1701), Telemann frequently visited the nearby courts at Hanover and Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. He tells us in his first autobiography (1718): > I thus became acquainted with the **French style** from the former \[Hanover], with the **Italian** and **theatrical styles** from the latter \[Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel], and from both I learned the diverse natures of various instruments, which I spared no effort to master myself. In addition to violin, keyboard and recorder, he now took up the flute, oboe, chalumeau, viola da gamba, double bass and bass trombone. After moving to Leipzig in 1701 (aged 20) to study law, Telemann had more opportunities to hear and learn the **French style** through visits to the royal court at Berlin, where the Belgian dancing master Jean-Baptiste Volumier had introduced the French manner of performance. --- ## Sorau (Poland) By early June 1705 (aged 24) Telemann had taken up the position of *Kapellmeister* to Count Erdmann II of Promnitz at Sorau, Lower Lusatia (now Żary, in Poland). The Count had developed a taste for **French instrumental music** after recent travels through France and Italy. Telemann immersed himself in the French style, later estimating that in two years he wrote 200 French suites. At Sorau Telemann was also exposed to **Polish** and **Moravian folk music**: > I became acquainted … with **Polish** and **Hanakian music** in its **true barbaric beauty**. In the common taverns it consisted of a fiddle strapped to the body and tuned a third higher than usual so that it could drown out a half dozen others, a Polish Bock \[a type of bagpipe], a bass trombone, and a regal. > > One can hardly believe what wonderful ideas such Bock players or fiddlers have when they improvise while the dancers rest. … > > In eight days an observant person could snap up enough ideas from them to last a lifetime. Suffice it to say that there is very much in this music that is good, if it is handled properly. --- ## Eisenach and Frankfurt In 1708 Telemann was appointed *Konzertmeister*, and later *Kapellmeister*, of the newly formed court musical establishment of Duke Johann Wilhelm of Saxe-Eisenach. The *Kapelle* was organised in the French manner and Telemann later wrote he considered that it surpassed in quality the orchestra of the Paris *Opéra*, which he had heard in 1737–8. > [!box] It is presumed that Telemann met Johann Sebastian Bach during his time at Eisenach. Later, in 1714, he was invited to be the godfather of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. Telemann moved to Frankfurt in 1712 (aged 31) to take up the post of Director of Music for the city and *Kapellmeister* at the Barfüsserkirche. His duties included composing and directing the music for various civic occasions and two churches, for which he wrote several annual cycles of church cantatas. --- ## Hamburg ![[Hamburg-1730.jpg]] Hamburg in 1730 In 1721 (aged 40) Telemann was invited to take over the prestigious positions of *Kantor* of the *Johanneum Lateinschule* and Musical Director of the five main churches in the Hanseatic city of Hamburg. The posts demanded a productivity unheard of today. For each Sunday he was expected to compose two church cantatas and for each year a new Passion for Lent. Special cantatas were required for induction ceremonies, and oratorios for the consecration of churches. Still more cantatas had to be written and performed to mark civic celebrations, of which there were many; and, once a year, to entertain the guests of the commandant of the city’s militia, Telemann had to provide the ‘*Kapitänsmusik*’, consisting of an oratorio and a serenata. And this just represents his sacred output! > [!box] In 1725 Telemann began publishing his own music, at first using moveable type and later by engraving on copper and pewter plates. In a 15 year period he published 43 collections of music and established a distribution network of agents and booksellers from Berlin to London. --- ## The Triumphant Visit to Paris Telemann spent eight months in Paris in 1737–38 at the invitation of some of the leading musicians of the time. He was at the height of his fame in Germany and was received with great acclaim. He regarded this visit as the highlight of his career. While there he obtained a 20-year royal publishing *Privilège* and used it to issue two of his finest collections of instrumental chamber music: - the ***Nouveaux quatuors*** (also known as the **‘Paris’ Quartets**) and - the ***XIIX Canons mélodieux*** (18 Melodious Canons). ![[Telemann-Melodious-Canons.jpg]] > [!box] It is clear from his 1740 autobiography that **Telemann had composed these works for the connoisseurs of Paris**. Wolfgang Caspar Printz, an older Sorau colleague of Telemann’s, suggested that connoisseurs are people who possess not just > ‘the “cultivated” ear … with a taste for the “delicate”’, but also ‘the “musical” or “noble” ear that makes judgments on the basis of theoretical knowledge and reason.’ --- ## Retirement and the Berlin Circle From 1740 Telemann seems to have gone into semi-retirement, wishing to devote his remaining years to writing theoretical treatises, although he continued with his official duties in Hamburg. He remained interested in developments and innovations in music, and during the 1740s and 1750s exchanged letters and compositions with the younger generation of composers working in Berlin, including Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Johann Joachim Quantz, Franz Benda, Carl Heinrich Graun and Johann Friederich Agricola. From the small amount of correspondence that has survived it is clear that Telemann strongly influenced the work of this school of composers. Telemann died in Hamburg on 25 June 1767. --- > [!link] Related Links > - [[Telemann - Fantasia 3]] > - [[Telemann - Siciliana]] --- Source: *Telemann – Melodious Canons and Fantasias* liner notes (2018). A recording by the [Elysium Ensemble](https://elysiumensemble.com). --- © Greg Dikmans