Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
João Francisco Távora (recorder)
Xurxo Varela (viola da gamba), Helder Sousa (harpsichord)
rec. 2023, Conservatório de Música, Coimbra, Portugal
Reviewed as a download
Coviello Classics COV92503 [69]

If a young recorder player wants to present him or herself to the world, there is no better composer to turn to than Georg Philipp Telemann. He is and was generally considered a man who followed the fashions of his time, and that is reflected by the many pieces for, or with, transverse flute, which in the course of his career developed into the most popular instrument among amateurs. However, he also wrote much music for the recorder, which was one of the main instruments of the 17th century, but held its position among amateurs for quite some time in the 18th century.

The disc which the Portuguese recorder player João Francisco Távora has recorded, includes pieces in three different scorings: recorder without accompaniment, recorder and basso continuo as well as a trio sonata with the viola da gamba as the second solo instrument. However, the solo pieces were originally intended for the transverse flute. The twelve fantasias, probably printed in 1726/27, constituted one of several collections of fantasias for a solo instrument without accompaniment. The other collections are for violin and viola da gamba. They were followed by a set of fantasias for harpsichord. The flute fantasias may have been inspired by Bach’s Partita in A minor and by the treatise L’Art de préluder by Jacques-Martin Hotteterre. They reflect Telemann’s ideal of the ‘mixed taste’, as they include Italian and French influences as well as features of Polish traditional music. They strongly differ in structure: the Fantasia No. 2 is a sonata da chiesa in four movements, whereas the Fantasia No. 3 has in fact three fast movements, but the first two are preceded by a very short slow introduction. Through wide leaps Telemann suggests polyphony and is able to write fugal movements, such as the vivace of the Fantasia No. 2.

Telemann lived in the time of the Enlightenment, and he was very much part of it. One of its aims was education, and that included musical education. In the first half of the 18th century many treatises were published instructing the growing number of amateurs how to play an instrument or how to perform music correctly. This explains a considerable part of Telemann’s collections of chamber music, such as the set of Methodische Sonaten. The title literally means ‘methodical sonatas’; the term ‘methodical’ means nothing else than ‘pedagogical’. Telemann’s aim was to instruct players how to ornament a musical line. From this collection, Távora plays the Sonata in G minor, which opens with an adagio in which the ornamentation, including trills, appoggiaturas and filled-in intervals, is written out. The pedagogical purpose does not withhold Telemann from including elements of Polish folk music in the closing movement.

Telemann’s ideal was to provide amateurs with good music that was challenging, but technically not too complicated. Der getreue Music-Meister is a perfect expression of this ideal. It was a series of magazines; 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. One of the best-known items is the Sonata in F minor, which can be played on the bassoon, but also – two octaves higher – at the recorder. The first movement is called triste, which indicates that music for amateurs was not always light-hearted. In this sonata motifs are repeated and extended, and in the last movement we meet Poland again. 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.

Telemann printed most of his music himself, such as one of his best-known collections, the Essercizii Musici. It was the last collection he took care of; he announced the publication in a Hamburg newspaper and added that it would be his last. Although it came from the press in 1739/40, it seems likely that the sonatas which Telemann brought together in this collection, were written at least more than ten years before. The set includes 24 sonatas, divided into twelve solos for one instrument and twelve trios for two instruments, both with basso continuo. Telemann was known for the variety of his scorings. Considering the likely time of composing, the trios with a concertante harpsichord part are among the earliest, in which the keyboard has a solo role in an instrumental ensemble. Here we get one sonata for recorder and basso continuo, and one trio sonata in which the recorder is joined by the viola da gamba. The latter was a very usual combination, which Telemann seems to have liked very much. The Trio sonata in F comprises three movements; both fast movements are fugues, which demonstrate Telemann’s skills in counterpoint. The Sonata in F includes much chromaticism, especially in the first movement. The two fast movements contain elements of Polish traditional music, such as repeated notes.

One of the lesser-known collections of Telemann’s chamber music is the set of Neue Sonatinen (New Sonatinas), which were advertised in 1731. It is another example of the composer’s pragmatism with regard to scoring. The solo parts can be played on the recorder or – two octaves lower – the cello or the bassoon. In the Sonatina in C minor Telemann mixes Italian and Polish elements. Syncopations frequently appear as well as motifs of sixteenth notes, either in broken chords or repeated.

There is a reason why Telemann is one of the most popular composers among recorder players. The programme performed here attests to the variety in forms and styles that is a feature of his oeuvre. There is no dull moment, thanks to the composer’s invention and fantasy. It is the perfect stuff for a recorder player at the start of his career to show what he is made of. Távora is a very fine player, who shows his skills here with great persuasiveness. He combines his technical skills with a sound musicianship, exploring the features of these pieces to the full. He produces a beautiful tone, and his use of dynamics – naturally limited on the recorder – is well thought-out. He has found the perfect partners in Xurxo Varela and Helder Sousa.

There is only one piece that I am not entirely satisfied with, and that is the trio sonata. The opening movement could have been a little faster, and the balance between the recorder and the viola da gamba is less than ideal. However, these are minor issues; this is a very fine production of recorder music, performed by a player of whom we will hear more in the years to come.

Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen
https://bsky.app/profile/musicadeidonum.bsky.social

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Contents
Sonata in C (TWV 41,C2)
Sonata in F minor (TWV 41,f1)
Fantasia No. 2 in A minor (TWV 40,3)
Sonata No. 1 in G minor (TWV 41,g3) (transposed to C minor)
Fantasia No. 9 in E (TWV 40,10) (transposed to G)
Sonata in D minor (TWVB 41,d4)
Fantasia No. 3 in B minor (TWV 40,4)
Sonatina in C minor (TWV 41,c2)
Trio sonata in F (TWV 42,F3)