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Georg Philipp Telemann

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Georg Philipp Telemann
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(born March 14, 1681, Magdeburg, Brandenburg — died June 25, 1767, Hamburg) German composer. By age 10 he had learned several instruments, and he composed an opera at age 12, but his family discouraged his pursuit of a musical profession. While studying law at Leipzig University, he organized student music groups and became music director of the Leipzig Opera (1702), organist at the New Church (1704), and kapellmeister to a count (1705). Moving to Eisenach (c. 1708), where he met Johann Sebastian Bach, he composed French-style instrumental music and German-style sacred music. He moved to Gotha (1717) and then Hamburg (1721), where he served as musical director of the Opera (1722 – 38), for which he wrote several dozen Italian-influenced works. He wrote some 600 cantatas and a total of some 2,000 pieces, many of high quality.

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Music Encyclopedia: Georg Philipp Telemann
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(b Magdeburg, 14 March 1681; d Hamburg, 25 June 1767). German composer. He was one of the most prolific composers ever. At ten he could play four instruments and had written arias, motets and instrumental works. His parents discouraged musical studies, but he gravitated back to them. At Leipzig University he founded a collegium musicum; at 21 he became musical director of the Leipzig Opera; at 23 he took on a post as church organist. The next year he moved to Žary, as court Kapellmeister, where he wrote French-style dance suites, sometimes tinged by local Polish and Moravian folk music, and cantatas. In 1708 he went in the same capacity to the Eisenach court and in 1712 to Frankfurt as city music director. As Kapellmeister of a church there, he wrote at least five cantata cycles and works for civic occasions, while his duties as director of a collegium musicum drew from him instrumental works and oratorios.

He was offered various other positions, but moved only in 1721, when he was invited to Hamburg as director of music at the five main churches and Kantor at the Johanneum. Here he had to write two cantatas each Sunday, with extra ones for special church and civic occasions, as well as an annual Passion, oratorio and serenata. In his spare time he directed a collegium musicum and wrote for the opera house; the city councillors waived their objections to the latter when he indicated that he would otherwise accept an invitation to Leipzig. He directed the Hamburg Opera from 1722 until its closure in 1738. In 1737 he paid a visit to Paris, appearing at court and the Concert Spirituel. From 1740 he devoted more time to musical theory, but from 1755 he turned to the oratorio. He published much of his music, notably a set of 72 cantatas and the three sets of Musique de table (1733), his best-known works, each including a concerto, a suite and several chamber pieces. He was eager to foster the spread of music and active in publishing several didactic works, for example on figured bass and ornamentation. He was by far the most famous composer in Germany; in a contemporary dictionary he is assigned four times as much space as J. S. Bach.

Telemann composed in all the forms and styles current in his day; he wrote Italian-style concertos and sonatas, French-style overture-suites and quartets, German fugues, cantatas, Passions and songs. Some of his chamber works, for example the quartets in the Musique de table, are in a conversational, dialogue-like manner that is lucid in texture and elegant in diction. Whatever style he used, Telemann's music is easily recognizable as his own, with its clear periodic structure, its clarity and its ready fluency. Though four years senior to Bach and Handel, he used an idiom more forward-looking than theirs and in several genres can be seen as a forerunner of the Classical style.

His grandson Georg Michael (1748-1831) was a Kantor and teacher at the cathedral school in Riga; his output includes church and organ works and writings on music.

works:
Sacred vocal music
  • c1700 church cantatas
  • 27 Passions and Passion oratorios
  • 6 oratorios, incl. Der Tag des Gerichts (1762): 17 masses
  • 2 Magnificats
  • c30 psalms
  • 16 motets
  • sacred songs, duets, canons
  • occasional cantatas
  • oratorios
Secular vocal music
  • 9 operas incl. Der geduldige Socrates (1721), Pimpinone, intermezzo (1725)
  • music for other composers operas
  • occasional serenades, cantatas
  • c50 solo cantatas
  • over 100 songs
Orchestral music
  • c120 ovs.
  • 4 syms.
  • 2 divertimentos
  • 47 concs. for solo inst
  • c50 other concs.
Chamber music
  • 36 solo fantasias
  • duos
  • c100 vn sonatas, fl sonatas
  • over 100 trio sonatas
  • over 50 qts, qnts
  • lute pieces
Keyboard music
  • fugues, chorale preludes
  • suites, fantasias, minuets

Biography: Georg Philipp Telemann
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Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), a German composer of the late baroque era, was one of the leaders of the Hamburg school during its preeminence in Germany.

Georg Philipp Telemann was born in Magdeburg on March 14, 1681. He was educated there and in Hildesheim. He learned the rudiments of music in school, as all German children did, but otherwise he taught himself music, mainly by studying the scores of Jean Baptiste Lully and André Campra. Telemann is said to have composed motets and other pieces of the church service when very young, and by the time he was 12 years old he had written almost the whole of an opera.

In 1701 Telemann entered Leipzig University as a law student. In 1704 he became organist at the Neukirche in Leipzig and founded a student society called the Collegium Musicum. He wrote several operas for the Leipzig theater. He was chapelmaster at the court of Eisenach (1709-1712) and in Frankfurt (1712-1721). He then became cantor of the Johanneum and music director in Hamburg, and he held these posts for the rest of his life. He was offered the position of music director at Leipzig in 1722 but declined it, and J. S. Bach received the appointment.

Telemann made a number of trips to Berlin, and in 1737 he visited Paris, where he was influenced by French musical ideas and style. He died on June 25, 1767.

Telemann composed with rare facility and fluency in a variety of styles. George Frederick Handel is reported to have said that Telemann could write a church piece of eight parts with the same ease as another would write a letter. He composed literally thousands of works, including 12 complete cantata cycles for the liturgical year, 44 Passions, oratorios, funeral and wedding services, chamber music, about 40 operas, and over 600 overtures in the French style. Whereas J. S. Bach could maintain his individuality when he wrote in the French or Italian style, Telemann prided himself on taking on the characteristics of every national style, writing in what was then called the new style galant.

In his History of Violin Playing (1965) David Boyden translates an interesting excerpt from Telemann's autobiography: "I had an opportunity in upper Silesia as well as in Cracow of getting to know Polish music in all its barbaric beauty. One would hardly believe what wonderfully bright ideas such pipers and fiddlers are apt to get when they improvise, ideas that would suffice for an entire lifetime. There is in this music a great deal of merit provided it is treated right. I have myself written in this manner several large concertos and trios that I clad in Italian clothes with alternating Adagi and Allegri."

Opinion is divided as to whether Telemann is an unjustly neglected master or a superficial craftsman whose works lack depth and profundity because of his incredible productivity. Unquestionably he had an effortless melodic gift and wrote music of great charm. His 12 Methodischen Sonate (1732) provide many valuable examples of ornamentation that are particularly useful today when the art of improvised ornamentation is almost dead except in jazz.

Further Reading

Telemann's autobiography is in German. Some biographical information on him is in Romain Rolland, A Musical Tour through the Land of the Past (trans. 1922). His important contributions to the pedagogy of figured-bass playing are discussed by Franck T. Arnold, The Art of Accompaniment from a Thorough-bass as Practiced in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries (1931). His position in history is discussed by Paul Henry Lang, Music in Western Civilization (1941), and Manfred Bukofzer, Music in the Baroque Era (1947). See also Homer Ulrich and Paul A. Pisk, A History of Music and Musical Style (1963), and Harold C. Schonberg, The Lives of the Great Composers (1970).

Additional Sources

Petzoldt, Richard, Georg Philipp Teleman, New York, Oxford University Press, 1974.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Georg Philipp Telemann
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Telemann, Georg Philipp (gā'ôrk fē'lĭp tĕl'əmän), 1681-1767, German composer. From 1721 until his death he was director of music for the five major churches in Hamburg. Extremely prolific, he composed scores of overtures, 40 operas, 12 complete services for the year, and other works in practically every form. Although he was highly regarded in his day, his reputation later declined because he was not an innovator; by the mid-20th cent., however, his critical reputation was again on the rise. Telemann is a major representative of the Hamburg school of the early 18th cent. A mixture of counterpoint and Italian operatic air forms his style. One of his best-known works is the oratorio entitled Der Tag des Gerichts [the day of judgment] (1762).
Artist: Georg Philipp Telemann
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Georg Philipp Telemann
  • Period: Baroque (1600-1749)
  • Country: Germany
  • Born: March 14, 1681 in Magdeburg, Germany
  • Died: June 25, 1767 in Hamburg, Germany
  • Genres: Band Music, Chamber Music, Concerto, Miscellaneous Music, Orchestral Music, Vocal Music

Biography

Georg Philipp Telemann was born in Magdeburg, the son of a Lutheran deacon who died in 1685, leaving the mother to raise their three children alone. The youth showed remarkable talent in music, but was temporarily discouraged in his chosen pursuit by Puritan Lutherans, who told Telemann's mother that he would turn out no better than "a clown, a tightrope walker or a marmot-trainer." In opposition to his mother's wishes, Telemann continued to study in secrecy until she relented, allowing him to train under the highly respected Kantor Benedict Christiani, at the Old City School. Outside of some early lessons in reading tablature, Telemann was self-taught and was capable of playing the flute, violin, viola da gamba, oboe, trombone, double bass, and several keyboard instruments. Telemann began to write music from childhood, producing an opera, Sigismundus, by age 12.

Telemann was sent away to Zellerfeld in 1694; at the age of 20, the composer resolved to study law in Leipzig, but a chance meeting in Halle with 16-year-old Georg Friedrich Handel appears to have drawn him back to music. Telemann began writing cantatas for a church in Leipzig and quickly became a local celebrity. In 1702, he was named director of the Leipzig Opera, and over the next three years he wrote four operas specifically for this company.

Early on, Telemann's career is marked by sharp contrasts, both professionally and personally; Kapellmeister in Sorau, now part of Poland, in 1705, he only served three years before moving on to the court in Eisenach (1708-1712). In 1712 Telemann accepted an appointment in Frankfurt to the post of Kapellmeister at the Church of the Barefoot Friars and as director of municipal music. In 1709 Telemann married Amalie Eberlin, who died in childbirth during the first year of their union. In 1714 Telemann married Maria Katharina Textor, whose gambling addiction was so bad the citizens of Hamburg took up a collection in order save the couple from bankruptcy. Later Telemann's second spouse would abandon him in favor of a Swedish military officer.

In 1721 Telemann's opera, Der geduldige Socrates was performed in Hamburg. That same year, Hamburg's officials awarded Telemann the positions of Kantor of the Johanneum and musical director of the city's principal churches. In doing so Telemann accepted the responsibility of writing two cantatas for every Sunday, a new Passion setting annually and of contributing music to a wide variety of liturgical and civic events. Telemann readily met these obligations and in 1722 accepted the directorship of the Hamburg Opera, serving until its closure in 1738.

Telemann was also one of the first composers to concentrate on the business of publishing his own music, and at least forty early prints of his music are known from editions which he prepared and sold himself. These published editions were in some cases extremely popular and spread Telemann's fame throughout Europe; in particular the Der Getreue Musik Meister (1728), Musique de Table or Tafelmusik (1733) and the 6 Concerts et 6 Suites (1734) were in wide use during Telemann's own lifetime.

Starting in the 1740s until about 1755, Telemann focused less on composition, turning his attentions to the study of music theory. He wrote many oratorios in the mid-1750s, including Donnerode (1756), Das befreite Israel (1759), and Die Auferstehung und Himmelfährt Jesu (1760). Telemann's long life ended at the age 86 in 1767.

Georg Philipp Telemann was considered the most important German composer of his day and his reputation outlasted him for some time, but ultimately it was unable to withstand the shadow cast by the growing popularity of his contemporary, Johann Sebastian Bach. Telemann enormous output, perhaps the largest of any classical composer in history, includes parts of at least 31 cantata cycles, many operas, concertos, oratorios, songs, music for civic occasions and church services, passion, orchestral suites and abundant amounts of chamber music. While many of these works have been lost, most still exist, and the sheer bulk of his creativity has made it difficult for scholars and performers alike to come to terms with. The inevitable revival of interest in Telemann did not arrive until the 1920s, but has grown exponentially ever since, and with the twenty first century in full swing more of Telemann's music is played, known, understood and studied than at any time in history. ~ All Music Guide, All Music Guide
Wikipedia: Georg Philipp Telemann
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Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), hand-colored aquatint by Valentin Daniel Preisler, after a lost painting by Louis Michael Schneider, 1750.

Georg Philipp Telemann (March 14, 1681 – June 25, 1767) was a German Baroque music composer and multi-instrumentalist, born in Magdeburg. Self-taught in music, he studied law at the University of Leipzig. Often described as the most prolific composer in history[1] (at least in terms of surviving oeuvre),[2] he was a contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi and a lifelong friend of George Frideric Handel. While in the present day Bach is generally thought of as the greater composer, Telemann was more widely renowned for his musical abilities during his lifetime.

Telemann traveled widely, absorbing various musical styles and incorporating them into his own compositions. He is known for writing concertos for unusual combinations of instruments, such as multiple violas, trumpets, oboes, or harpsichords. He held a series of important musical positions, culminating in that of music director of the five largest churches in Hamburg, from 1720 until his death in 1767.

Contents

Life

Telemann was born in Magdeburg, the capital of the Duchy of Magdeburg, in 1681. Telemann’s family was not particularly musical; his great-grandfather had served as Cantor at Halberstadt, but no one else in his direct family had been involved in music. Telemann’s father died in 1685, leaving his mother to raise and oversee the education of the children. They were an upper-middle-class family, and many worked in the church. Telemann began to discover music at age 10, and quickly showed talent, composing his first opera by age 12. But this talent was not approved of by his family. Fearing that her son would pursue a career in music, Telemann’s mother confiscated all of his musical instruments and in 1693 sent him to a new school in Zellerfeld (1694-1698), hoping that this change would put the boy on a more lucrative career path. However, the superintendent of this school approved of his talents, and Telemann continued to compose and expand his knowledge of music on his own. By the time he completed his studies at the Gymnasium Andreanum in Hildesheim, Telemann was a multi-instrumentalist who had learned to play the recorder, organ, violin, viola da gamba, flute, oboe, chalumeau, double bass and bass trombone, almost entirely by himself. His travels had also exposed him to newer musical styles, and the music of Johann Rosenmüller and Arcangelo Corelli became early influences.

Georg Philipp Telemann. Engraving by Georg Lichtensteger, c. 1745.

In 1701, Telemann entered Leipzig University intending to study law, perhaps at the request of his mother. It was not long before his musical talent was discovered, however, and he was commissioned to write music for two of the city’s main churches. Soon thereafter, he founded a 40-member Collegium Musicum to give concerts of his music. The next year, Telemann became the director of Leipzig’s opera house and cantor of one of its churches. His growing prominence began to anger elder composer Johann Kuhnau, whose position as director of music for the city had been encroached upon by Telemann’s appointment as a cantor. Telemann was also using many students in his opera productions, leaving them less time to devote to participation in church music for Kuhnau. Kuhnau denounced Telemann as an “opera musician”. Even after Telemann’s departure, Kuhnau could not regain the performers he had lost to the opera.

Telemann's signature (1714 and 1757).

Telemann left Leipzig in 1705 to become Kapellmeister for the court of Count Erdmann II in Sorau (now Zary, Poland). Here he acquainted himself with the French style of Lully and Campra, composing many overtures and suites in his two years at the post. An invasion of Germany by Sweden forced Count Erdmann's court to evacuate the castle. Telemann apparently visited Paris in 1707; and was later appointed as a leader of the singers at the court in Eisenach, where he met Johann Sebastian Bach. The major position of Telemann's life was his appointment in 1721 as musical director of the five main churches in Hamburg, a position he would hold for the rest of his life. Here Telemann wrote two cantatas for each Sunday, as well as other sacred music for special occasions, all while teaching singing and music theory and directing another collegium musicum, which gave weekly or bi-weekly performances. Telemann also directed the local opera house for a few years, but this proved a financial failure.

When the position Kuhnau had once held in Leipzig became vacant, Telemann applied for the position. Of the six musicians who applied, he was the favored candidate, even winning the approval of the city’s council. Telemann declined the position, but only after using the offer as leverage to secure a pay raise for his position in Hamburg. When Telemann declined the job, it was offered to Christoph Graupner, who also declined it, paving the way for J.S. Bach. Telemann augmented his Hamburg pay with a few small positions in other courts and through publishing volumes of his own music.

Starting around 1740, Telemann’s output decreased as he began to focus more on writing theoretical treatises. During this time he corresponded with some younger composers, including Franz Benda and his godson, C.P.E. Bach. Following the death of his eldest son Andreas in 1755, Telemann assumed the responsibility of raising his grandson Georg Michael Telemann, and beginning the future composer’s education in music. Many of his sacred oratorios date from this period. In his later years, Telemann’s eyesight began to deteriorate, and this led to a decline in his output around 1762, but the composer continued to write until his death on June 25, 1767.

Works and reputation

The Guinness Book of World Records lists Telemann as the most prolific composer of all time with more than 800 credited works. More recent studies, for example the thematic catalogues of his works published in the 1980s and 1990s, have shown that Telemann actually wrote over 3,000 compositions, many of which are now lost. Some of his pieces, thought lost, were recently uncovered by the musicologist Jason Grant. Many of the manuscripts were destroyed during World War II. (Another composer, Simon Sechter, could be considered more prolific, since he is thought to have written over 8000 pieces, but 5000 of these were short fugues.)[3]

Telemann was highly regarded during his lifetime, and for several decades afterwards; however, by the first decades of the 19th century his works were performed less frequently. The last performance of a substantial work by Telemann, Der Tod Jesu, until the 20th century, was in 1832. Indeed, the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which includes large articles on both J. S. Bach and Handel, does not contain an entry on Telemann.

The revival of interest in Telemann began in the first decades of the 20th century and culminated in the Bärenreiter critical edition of the 1950s. Early music ensembles now commonly perform Telemann's works and numerous recordings of his music are available.

TWV numbers

Today each of Telemann's works is usually given a TWV number. TWV stands for Telemann-Werke-Verzeichnis (Telemann Work Catalogue). TWV is followed by a number, a colon, a letter and a number. The first number after TWV indicates the general type of medium, the letter after the colon is the key of the particular work, and the following number is the numbering within that type of work.

For example, Telemann's Concerto polonois in B flat major for strings and basso continuo is TWV 43:B3. His Suite in D major is TWV 55:D18.

Telemann's vocal works are identified by TVWV numbers.

Partial list of works

Operas

See List of operas by Telemann

Passions

Cantatas

  • Cantata Cycle 1716-1717
  • Der Schulmeister ("The Schoolmaster") most probably spurious
  • Der Tod Jesu ("The Death of Jesus") TWV 5:5-6
  • Die Donner-Ode ("The Ode of Thunder") TWV 6:3a-b
  • Die Tageszeiten ("The Times of the Day") (1764)
  • Der Tag des Gerichts ("The Day of Judgement")

Oratorios

Orchestral suites

  • Ouvertüre Wassermusik (Hamburger Ebb und Fluth) TWV 55:C3
  • Ouvertüre des nations anciens et modernes in G TWV 55:G4
  • Ouvertüre g-moll in G minor TWV 55:g4
  • Grillen-symphonie TWV 50:1

Chamber Music

Concertos

Viola

  • Concerto in G Major for Viola and String Orchestra, TWV 51:G9; the first known concerto for viola, still regularly performed today
  • Concerto in G Major for Two Violas and String Orchestra, TWV 52:G3

Horn

  • "Concerto for Two Horns in D Major TWV 52:D2"
  • "Horn Concerto in B"

Chalumeaux (Clarinet)

  • Concerto for Two Chalumeaux and Orchestra

Oboe

  • "Concerto in F Minor"

Media

References

  1. ^ The Guinness Book of World Records 1998, Bantam Books, p. Page 402. ISBN 0553578952.
  2. ^ See Phillip Huscher, Program Notes - Telemann Tafelmusik III, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, 2007.
  3. ^ Friedrich Blume, Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, Bärenreiter-Verlag, 1949, p. 450.

External links

Search Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Georg Philipp Telemann

Further information on Telemann and his works

Modern Editions

  • Prima la musica! Commercially available performing editions of Telemann's music, as well as other baroque composers.
  • Habsburger Verlag Modern performing editions of Telemann's cantatas edited by Eric Fiedler.
  • Edition Musiklandschaften Modern performing editions of Telemann's yearly Passions from 1757 to 1767 edited by Johannes Pausch

Free sheet music


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