Description
GeorgPhilipp Telemann (1681-1767)Musique de table (Tafelmusik), Volume 2Part I: Trio, Sonata and Conclusion Part II: OuvertureGeorg Philipp Telemann was among the most distinguishedcomposers of his time, a rival to his friend Johann Sebastian Bach inreputation, and the certain preference of the Leipzig authorities for theposition of Cantor at the St Thomas Choir School, where Bach was eventuallyappointed in 1723, Telemann had, in 1721, taken the position of Cantor of theJohanneum in Hamburg, with musical responsibility for the five principalchurches of the city. His negotiations with Leipzig a year later proved themeans to secure better conditions in Hamburg, where he remained until his deathin 1767, He was succeeded there by his godson Cari Pbilipp Emanuel Bach, thesecond son of Johann Sebastian.Born in Magdeburg in 1681, Telemann belonged to a familythat had long been connected with the Lutheran Church. His father was aclergyman and his mother the daughter of a clergyman, while his eider brotheralso took orders, a path that he too might have followed, had it not been forhis exceptional musical ability. As a cbild he showed some precocity, but itwas while he was a student at Leipzig University, wbich he entered in 1701,that a career in music became inevitable. He founded the University CollegiumMusicum that Bach was later to direct and in 1703 became musical director ofthe Leipzig Opera, composing some twenty operas himself. At the same time heinvolved his fellow-students in a great deal of public performance, to theannoyance of the Thomascantor, Bach's immediate predecessor, Kuhnau, who sawhis prerogative now endangered.After Leipzig Telemann went on to become Kapellmeister toCount Erdmann II of Promnitz, a nobleman with a taste for French music, and in1708 moved to Eisenach, following this with a position as director of music tothe city of Frankfurt am Main in 1712. There were other offers of employmentelsewhere, but it was to Hamburg that he finally moved in 1721, to remain therefor the rest of his life. As a composer Telemann was prolific, providing an enormousbody of work, both sacred and secular. This included 1043 church cantatas and46 settings of the Passions, one for each of the years he was in Hamburg. Hecontinued to involve himself in public performances of opera in Hamburg,arousing some opposition from the city council, his employers. Once he hadstrengthened his position he took additional responsibility as director of theHamburg Opera, while active in publishing and selling much of the music that hewrote. Four years Bach's senior, he outlived him by seventeen years, so that bythe time of his death Haydn was 35 and Mozart was eleven. His musical styledeveloped with the times, from the characteristically late Baroque to the new stylegalant exemplified by his godson.Telemann's Musique de table was published in 1733, acollection of music divided into three Productions, each one containing anoverture with a suite for seven instruments, a
