musica Dei donum
CD reviews
Georg Philipp TELEMANN (1681 - 1767): Chamber music for strings
[I] "Gulliver's Travels - Music for strings"
Capricornus Consort Basel
Dir: Peter Barczi
rec: April 15 - 18, 2024, Nuglar-St. Pantaleon (CH), Kath. Kirche St. Pantaleon
Christophorus - CHR 77482 (© 2025) (66'54")
Liner-notes: E/D
Cover & track-list
Spotify
Concerto for 4 violins in G (TWV 40,201)ab;
Guilliver Suite for 2 violins in D (TWV 40,108) [2];
Sonata for 2 violins, viola and bc in A (TGWV 40,200)c;
Sonata à 5 for 2 violins, 2 violas and bc in e minor (TWV 44,5)cd;
Sonata à 5 for 2 violins, 2 violas and bc in F (TWV 44,11)cd;
Sonata à 5 for 2 violins, 2 violas and bc in g minor (TWV 44,33)cd;
Sonate Corellisante No. 5 in g minor (TWV 42,g4) [4];
Trietto for 2 violins and bc No. 3 in d minor (TWV 42,d1) [3]
Peter Barczi, Eva Borhi, Hannah Vissera, Judith von der Goltzb, violin;
Sonoko Asabukic, Martina Bischofd, viola;
Daniel Rosin, cello;
Julian Behr, theorbo;
David Blunden, harpsichord
[II] "Works for violins without bass"
Imaginarium Ensemble - The Sharp Band
Dir: Enrico Onofri
rec: August 14 - 17, 2022, Mondaino, Teatro Dimora L'Arboreto
Passacaille - PAS 1126 (© 2022) (63'45")
Liner-notes: E/D/F/IT
Cover, track-list & booklet
Spotify
Concerto for 4 violins in D (TWV 40,202)ab;
Concerto for 4 violins in G (TWV 40,201)ab;
Duetto I for 2 violins in G (TWV 40,124) [6];
Duetto II for 2 violins in a minor (TWV 40,125) [6];
Duetto III for 2 violins in b minor (TWV 40,126) [6];
Sonata I for 2 violins in D (TWV 40,103) [1];
Sonata I for 2 violins in G (TWV 40,118) [5];
Sonata III for 2 violins in D (TWV 40,120) [5];
Sonata for 4 violins in C (TWV 40,203)ab;
Zwanzigste Lection for 2 violins in G (TWV 40,111) [2]
Enrico Onofri, Alessandro Tampieri, Boris Begelmana, Maria Cristina Vasib, violin
Sources:
[1] Sonates sans Basse, à deux Flutes traverses, ou à deux Violons, ou à deux Flutes à bec, 1727;
[2] Der getreue Music-Meister, 1728/29;
[3] III Trietti methodici e Scherzi à 2 Flauti traversi overo 2 violini con fondamento, 1731;
[4] Sonates corellisantes à 2 violons ou traversières, violoncello et fondamento, 1735
[5] XIIX Canons mélodieux ou VI Sonates en Duo à Flutes Traverses, ou Violons, ou Basses de Viole, 1738;
[6] Second livre de duo pour deux violons, fluttes ou hautbois, 1752
Scores
Recently I have been sorting out my collection of discs, many of which are review copies. I knew that I had a large number with music by Telemann, but I was surprised how many. It attests to the growing popularity of his music in the course of the last twenty years or so. Right now his music may well be just as popular as Vivaldi's, and that is saying a lot.
It has lasted quite some time before he was taken seriously. In the 19th century, when he was rediscovered, he was often unfavourably compared with Bach. And still many music lovers may think that Bach was superior in his command of counterpoint, whereas Telemann mostly wrote music for amateurs in the 'simpler' and more easily accessible galant idiom. The discs under review here are the perfect antidote, as they entirely focus on chamber music for strings in which counterpoint plays a major role.
The programme of the first disc opens with a quartet in four movements. The track-list mentions only three: the second movement, an allegro, suddenly turns into an adagio, and these two sections are allocated to one track. It has quite a dramatic effect, as the adagio follows the allegro attacca. The opening movement, a model of counterpoint, combined with harmonic tension, closes with an adagio. The last movement has the form of a rondeau.
Three sonatas are scored for two violins, two violas and basso continuo. Brit Reipsch, in her liner-notes, mentions that the Italian composer Tomaso Albinoni may have been the model for these sonatas, as he used the same scoring in his Sinfonie e concerti a cinque Op. 2. However, a scoring in five parts was common across Europe in the 17th century. These sonatas are undoubtedly early works, when the style of the 17th century was still alive, as one also can observe in the early cantatas of Bach. Several movements are fugal; the Sonata in e minor (TWV 44,5) even includes a triple fugue. The slow movements are full of baroque pathos.
Among the better-known works by Telemann are the three concertos for four violins without accompaniment. They also date from the early stages in Telemann's career. They are unique in the German baroque literature, as far as I know. The Concerto in G is again in four movements. Although in this piece the four violins are treated on equal footing, the first movement opens with a number of bars in which the third and fourth violin act as a kind of basso continuo. This movement includes adventurous harmonic progressions. The second movement is a fugue. The closing movement could be interpreted as a battle or a hunting scene, given the many repeated notes. Considering that Telemann often included elements of countrylife in his music, I would opt for the second interpretation.
The Trietto No. 3 in d minor shows that later in his career Telemann had not abandoned counterpoint. It is from a set of three trietti and three scherzi which he published in 1731, when he was working in Hamburg as Musikdirektor. A sign of the time is that the two melody parts can be played on either violins or transverse flutes. This reflects the growing popularity of the flute, especially among amateurs. In the opening movement the three parts are independent, whereas the last movement, following a lyrical adagio, includes folkloristic elements.
Four years later Telemann published a set of six Sonates Corellisantes, a clear tribute to the Roman master, who had had such a far-reaching influence on next generations, undoubtedly also Telemann in his formative years. Again, this sonata is entirely dominated by counterpoint. The third movement, marked presto, ends with a short grave episode, which is the transition to the concluding vivace. Like the trietti these sonatas can be played either on violins or transverse flutes.
Lastly, a piece for two violins without accompaniment shows Telemann's sense of humour, which he also displays in a number of orchestral overtures, in which he sometimes portrays characters, peoples, or situations of everyday life. The Gulliver Suite is obviously inspired by Jonathan Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels, first published in 1726 and soon translated into German. Telemann's piece consists of five short movements, opening with an Intrada. The following four movements depict some of the characters in the novel. The second movement is about the Lilliputians, where Telemann uses 3/32 time and 128th notes, notably on the rhythm of a chaconne, usually rather solemn in character. In the next movement Telemann does the opposite: in the Brobdingnagian Gigue he portrays the giants in 24/1 time and breves, and to the rhythm of a normally lively gigue. The fourth movement includes contrasting musical figures, depicting the scholars at Laputa, who are beaten to maintain concentration. "Telemann caricatures their mathematical obsessions with the encoded time signature "3 [plus] 2/2 [divided by] 4" (= 4/4)" (booklet). In the closing movement, The Loure of the Well-Mannered Houyhnhnms and the Fury of the Naughty Yahoos the two violins are following entirely their own route, quiet vs lively.
Folkloristic influences and humourous characterisations are never far away in Telemann's music. They are better-known and attract more attention of performers and audiences than those parts of his oeuvre where he shows his skills in counterpoint. It is the value of this disc that it focuses on that part of his heritage. It sheds a light on a man whose music is popular these days, but suffers from an interest that is a little one-sided. With this recording the Capricornus Consort Basel rectifies that.
The playing does not deserve anything but praise. The baroque pathos of the slow movements is given its full weight, and the choice of tempi is spot-on, emphasizing the contrasts within each piece. The playing is dynamically differentiated, with many marked accents, where they are needed. The transparency of the sound the players produce, makes sure that the different voices are clearly discernible, with the help of an excellent recording.
Any lover of Telemann's music should investigate this disc, and those who are still not convinced about his qualities may change their minds listening to this compelling recording. As far as his command of counterpoint is concerned, he was certainly not inferior to Bach.
That conclusion is confirmed by the next disc, which links up with the first in that it includes all three concertos for four violins, and otherwise brings pieces for two violins without accompaniment, just like the Gulliver Suite.
Music for melody instruments without accompaniment may be mostly meant for professional players. Pieces that come to mind are the sonatas and partitas for violin solo and the partita for transverse flute by Bach. There is a reason they were never published. Telemann composed several series of fantasias for a solo instrument without accompaniment, which he did publish. They are undoubtedly intended for amateurs, but - as I have mentioned more than once in reviews - one should not underestimate the skills of some of them.
Duets have been written in largen numbers in the 18th century, and that can probably be explained by the ideals of the Enlightenment, one of whose aims was education. Many treatises were published with instructions on how to play a particular instrument or to interpret a piece of music, for instance in the ornamentation department. Duets were good pedagogical stuff: the two instruments could be played by the teacher and his pupil respectively. Telemann's duets may also have that intention, but can be played at home by amateurs for entertainment as well. The Imaginarium Ensemble recorded a number of duets from several collections of different stages in Telemann's career. It plays here without the basso continuo section, and the string players call themselves The Sharp Band, after the characterisation of John Dryden, set to music by Handel in his Ode for St Cecilia's Day: "Sharp violins proclaim / Their jealous pangs and desperation, / Fury, frantic indignation, / Depths of pain, and height of passion, / For the fair disdainful dame."
The programme includes all three concertos for four violins, although the third bears the title of sonata (in the copy made by Johann Samuel Endler, vice-Kapellmeister under Graupner at the Darmstadt court chapel). The Telemann catalogue mentions a fourth concerto for this same scoring, but that is considered spurious. All concertos are in four movements. The first has already been mentioned. The first allegro of the Concerto in D is a fugue, attesting to Telemann's use of counterpoint in these works. There is no lack of expression as well, as for instance the opening grave of the Sonata in C shows. The fact that these concertos were never published, may be an indication that Telemann considered them too challenging for amateurs.
The earliest piece from a printed collection is the Sonata in D (TWV 40,103). It is taken from a set of six sonatas for two violins, two transverse flutes or two recorders, printed by Telemann himself in 1726. It is is four movements, the second of which is a fugue.
In 1728/29 Telemann published a series of magazines under the title of Der getreue Music-Meister (which also includes the Gulliver Suite discussed above). The form of a magazine was a typical feature of the Enlightenment, and Telemann the business man used the form to divide movements of a sonata over several issues, making sure that people continued to purchase them. Each copy included a variety of pieces, mostly instrumental, but also some vocal, for different instruments or combinations of instruments. In order to make them attractive to as many players as possible, Telemann often proposed alternative scorings. As different instruments sometimes require transposition, Telemann goes so far as to publish various versions in different keys. The Zwanzigste Lection, for instance, is presented in the key of G major for a combination of violin and viola pomposa or transverse flute (the version performed here), in B flat for recorder and violin, and in A major for two viole da gamba.
In 1738 Telemann published a collection of XIIX Canons mélodieux ou VI Sonates en duo a flutes traverses, ou violons, ou basses de viole; the scoring very much reflects the preferences of French amateurs. The viola da gamba was the symbol of the French style, the violin had been adopted in the wake of the enbracement of the Italian style, and the transverse flute had become the love of a growing number of amateurs. The canon was an age-old form and a specimen of counterpoint - not something the advocates of the 'new style' (the galant idiom) were very fond of. It is typical Telemann that he published eighteen pieces in canon for amateurs to enjoy and to be challenged.
With the Second livre de duo pour deux violons, fluttes ou hautbois we are in the 1750s. That is the title of the first printed edition (Paris, 1752). The manuscript only refers to transverse flutes: VI Sonaten per il Flauto Traversiero Primo Flauto Traversiere Secondo. Given Telemann's pragmatism with regard to scoring, there is no objection against a performance on different instruments, such as here on two violins of three of these sonatas. They are written in the galant idiom; they have three movements in fast tempo, with the moderato as the middle movement of the Duetto in a minor as the exception.
The performances are of the same high level as those of the first disc. This is high-class playing, well-articulated, dynamically differentiated and with a good eye for detail. Both discs are testimonies of Telemann's mastery of counterpoint and his virtually unlimited creativity.
Johan van Veen (© 2025)
Relevant links:
Capricornus Consort Basel
Imaginarium Ensemble