georg philipp telemann (1681-1767) - nca - new classical adventure

GEORG PHILIPP TELEMANN:
“XII SOLOS À VIOLON OU TRAVERSIERE AVEC LA BASSE CHIFFRÉE” (1734)
In 1734, when Telemann was fifty-three years old and at the height of his career as a
composer, he published his Twelve Solos for Violin or Traverso and Basso Continuo. The
collection was dedicated to ‘Rudolfe, Jeanne und Jean Guillame Burmester’ from
Hamburg (Telemann wrote the French form of their names in the dedication.) As
mentioned by the publisher in the introduction, this new set was a compliment to
Telemann’s ‘Methodischen Sonaten’, published a few years earlier in 1728. The
Burmesters were musical amateurs in the best sense of the word: they were wealthy and
had a high reputation in society, and like nobility wanted to use their musical soirées as
a form of recreation away from the drudgery of daily work. For such works as the
‘Harmonischen Gottesdienst’ (1726), ‘Tafelmusik’ (1733), the ‘Getreuen Music-Meister’
(1728), and the ‘Singe- Spiel- und Generalbaßübungen’ (1734) Telemann aimed his
music both at professionals and amateur musicians. This is evident when one looks at
the score, which reveals a union of acquired taste and considerable skill. This acquired
taste, demanded from both the performer as well as the audience, is by all means no less
than that found in his numerous and partially virtuosic solo concerti.
The question why Telemann didn’t title his Twelve Solos as ‘Sonatas’ is not easy to
answer, because they are in fact twelve four-movement sonatas written in a slow-fastslow-fast
form, typical for church sonatas of the time. Also, when glancing at writing of
the solos it becomes evident that the bass frequently appears as an equal partner to the
solo voice, breaking free of its role and taking part in the musical dialogue. In such
moments the music turns into a duo for an upper and lower voice, and how to deal with
this constant color change in the bass line was a factor that was taken into
consideration during the recording. Finally, Telemann doesn’t make the decision as to
which of the twelve sonatas should be played by the flute which by the violin very
easy. That is left to the performer, and Telemann refrains from any telltale
characteristics specific to one instrument or the other, like for example the use of
double stops on the violin. He is also careful that both the flute and the violin can play
in the written key of each piece. In this recording, Mary Utiger and Michael Schmidt-
Casdorff simply alternate the roles, so that the first sonata is played on the violin, the
second on the flute, the third on the violin, and so on.
SOME COMMENTS ABOUT THE CHARACTERISTICS, STYLE AND INTERPRETATION OF
EACH OF THE SONATAS:
The opening movement, of the SOLO I IN F MAJOR, Andante, could also be titled
‘Nobile.’ Sublime in character, with broad gestures and arpeggios in the upper voice, it
gives a feeling of loftiness. A Vivace follows, whose syncopated beginning is folkloric in
fashion. The rest of the movement is filled with various figures that play off of each
other, developing into a dialogue between melody and bass. This is also the case in the
Grave that follows, where the two voices are treated as equal partners alongside each
other. Its opening motive of a rising minor sixth presents the general character of the
entire music, that of lamenting and disappointment. In contrast the closing movement,
an Allegro written in the manner of a gigue, comes across as somewhat overly
enthusiastic and cheerful.
The SOLO II IN E MINOR conjures up a picture of a pastoral idyll: the first movement,
Cantabile, is like a siciliano swaying in 6/8 time, and immediately one recalls Quantz’s
comments in his 1752 “Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversiere zu spielen" about
how the siciliano should be played like a shepherds dance. In this bucolic sphere one also
finds something capricious in the music, reminding one about a more rebellious meaning
of the word ‘moody.’ Here the two fast movements of the sonata are like a capricciothrough
syncopations, insistent note repetitions or large leaps they are generally
obstinate, defiant and unruly. The slow third movement presents the exact opposite -
the motivic repetitions of the notes carry an air of questioning and uncertainty.
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