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In 1722, when
the city council of Leipzig
was seeking a new cantor for
St. Thomas’ Church - after
the death of Johann Kuhnau,
it first turned to Georg
Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
in Hamburg. Nothing makes
clearer the high esteem that
this master already enjoyed
at that time. In the first
half of the eighteenth
century, Telemann was one of
the most famous and most
popular musicians in
Germany. His artistic
productivity was
extraordinary. The three
works presented on this
record show the flexibility
and imaginativeness with
which Telemann could
transform the musical forms
of his time and, in the
sense of the new currents,
make them easily
understandable and
“pleasanter” for a wide
audience. The Suite for Solo
Violin and Orchestra in F
major makes use of a mixed
form based on the solo
concerto and the partita. It
is introduced by a typical
concerto movement in which
three orchestra ritornelles
in the harmonic succession
of tonic-dominant-tonic
present an individual,
highly energetic theme.
Between these basic pillars
of the composition, solo
episodes were inserted in
which the violin plays an
independent theme that
contrasts sharply to the
orchestral parts and also
receives space for virtuoso
development. Six additional
pieces follow the opening
movement in extremely loose
suite form. Four of them are
dance pieces in which the
solo violin, after each
respective opening
orchestral section, is given
sufficient opportunity to
play in rich figuration.
With its ponderous 3/2 beat,
the “Corsicana”, the only
composition of the cycle in
a minor key, stands in
strong contrast to the
swiftly flowing
French-styled Gigue. The
“Polacca” illustrates
Telemann’s preference - that
he himself often stressed -
for rhythmically intricate
dance movements of Polish
origin. A gallant minuet
concludes the set of
movements. Two
characterizing pieces that
are formally quite
dissimilar and are marked
“Allegrezzi” and “Scherzo,”
are included as movements
three and four. A number of
musical surprise effects,
especially in the “scherzo,”
assures one that the
listener will not tire. In
these two movements the solo
instruments appears only
occasionally. “La Lyra,” the
suite for strings, also
exhibits a series of
original features.
Apparently, its title refers
to the third movement which
imitates the sound of a
hurdy-gurdy (not to be
confused with the Italian
street-musician’s instrument
that is popularly so called
but in reality is a hand
organ) - in Italian “la
lyra,” in French “la
vielle.” Over the
harmonically constant base
of an E flat major triad
(formed by the three lower
voices) the first violins
play a simple melody, like
the tune of a folk dance.
The suite is opened by a
three-part French-type
overture. Written in the
gravely punctuated rhythm
popular at the time, the
outer sections provide the
frame for a lively fugato in
which the theme, after its
first complete performance,
appears highly varied in the
individual voices. The
overture is followed by
several dances that were
very popular in the suite
literature of the time: a
“menuett” in a playful
manner, a “sicilienne” in
3/4 time with an impressing
melody, a delicate
“rondeau,” a sparkling
“bourrée” and finally a
“gigue” of Italian origin.
They are all light, airy and
graceful in form. What the
composer meant in the
siciliano on adding “avec
cadence” is not entirely
clear. Perhaps the schleifer
in the first violins and
bass should not be played
on, but before that part of
the beat. Telemann’s often
quoted statement that the
concertos never really came
from his heart refers less
to the category - after all,
he composed 123 works of
this genre - than to the
Vivaldi style of highly
virtuoso concerto, the
formal structure of which
had already begun to grow
rigid in his life time. The
Concerto in G major for
viola and string orchestra
truly shows a most
individual solution to the
problem of the concerto. In
the very external ordering
of the movements
(slow-fast-slow-fast), it
departed from conventional
paths and used the basic
structure of the “sonata da
chiesa.” Viola virtuosity is
kept within limitations -
after all, there were but a
few good violists at the
time of composition - and is
always organically fitted to
the orchestra part. Yet the
particular significance of
this concerto is due to the
use of the viola, which was
highly neglected at that
time, as a solo instrument.
As far as present-day
research has determined, it
was the first concerto for
viola ever written. The
opening Largo, for all its
tonal beauty, employs but
one theme that the orchestra
and solo instrument
alternately play to each
other. Telemann’s frequent
use of the sonorous low
range speaks for his
intimate knowledge of the
instrument’s qualities and
possibilities. The following
Allegro runs on like a
motor, but it, too, is not
of Italian provenience, for
it is also based on simply
one theme. The fact that
this musical idea is very
closely related to the first
movement of J. S. Bach’s
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5
should not head one to draw
false conclusions since,
after all, the ascending
triad with diatonic descent
was a typical barock manner
of theme formation. The
Andante in E minor displays
rich harmonic development. A
rich dialogue is spun
between “solo” and “tutti,”
that gains significance
through the various unison
sections of the strings
(without violoncello or
continuo). The theme of the
concluding Presto shows
relationship to that of the
preceding Allegro movement.
In this way Telemann both
bound the two fast movements
together theme-wise and
strengthened the unity of
the work. This final
movement is gaily styled and
gives the frolicsomeness of
the soloist free reign.
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