Believe it or not,
and I must speak in a hushed whisper,
there are folk out there, and I sometimes
think that I am one, who prefer Telemann
to the great J.S. Bach. Why? Because
he is more fun, more eclectic and a
little more human although it has to
be added that generally he is considered
somewhat less profound. Having heard
this CD a few times I am rather inclined
to that view myself.
The CD gets its title
from the second movement of the ‘Ouverture
in D’ - a seventeen minute seven movement
suite mostly consisting of the usual
Sarabande, Bourée, Gigue etc
movements. Amongst the usual suspects
appears this singular ‘Perpetuum mobile’
which, at just a minute and a half,
makes its point and is gone. It is a
rare feature of such a suite and raises
a gentle smile. But then other pieces
on this gloriously performed recording
do exactly the same.
As a chamber music
composer Telemann is ‘spot-on’, good
fun for both listeners and instrumentalists.
So the planning of this CD offers us
the best of both worlds, mixing, as
it does, three twelve minute cantatas,
all unpublished, and three instrumental
works.
The first piece on
the CD is for the feast of the Epiphany.
Like all of the cantatas featured here
it is a world premiere recording. It
is scored for soprano and tenor and
its opening duet, which I have played
now quite often, with its wonderful
suspensions in the words ‘Here is my
heart, beloved Jesus’, immediately dispels
the idea that Telemann cannot plumb
the depths. A similarly moving opening
can be heard in the cantata ‘Ac herr,
strafe ich’, a setting for solo tenor
and instruments of Psalm 6 beginning
‘O Lord punish me not in thy anger’.
Here again dissonances and a falling
suspension create a very moving atmosphere.
The mood gradually lightens for the
final ‘For all my foes shall be turned
back and confounded’.
The middle cantata
on the disc makes a nice contrast being
scored for just solo soprano and ensemble.
It sets a somewhat sober Passiontide
text ‘Desist, pleasure and merriment’
(‘Weiche, Lust und Frohlichkeit’). These
cantatas are divided into opening and
closing arias with linked recitatives
and/or ariosos with quite often have
virtuoso instrumental work embedded
somewhere in them - often for no special
reason. In this latter cantata the violin
writing in the middle aria ‘To redeem
us accursed mortals’ is just like this,
as is the writing for oboes in the tenor
cantata also in the middle aria. The
vocal writing is often incredibly challenging.
The wonderful soprano Dorothee Mields
is quoted in Doris Blaich’s excellent
booklet notes as saying "How did
these early singers manage to sing such
long coloratura without breathing?".
Quite so. Amazing to contemplate therefore
that there are some 1700 cantatas like
this awaiting a completist recording
project! Telemann, it must be remembered,
is really a church music composer, just
like Bach.
The purely instrumental
works would have been considered to
be less typical of the composer by his
contemporaries but it is this aspect
of his work that we are nowadays more
familiar with. Again it is often the
flair and excitement of the writing
which attracts. The A minor quartet
for recorder, oboe, violin and continuo
is a good example. It is in four movements
beginning with an Adagio. I defy anyone
who hears it not to be lulled by its
smooth antiphonal writing. The ensuing
Allegro is fugal with an independent
and busy bass line. The following Adagio
is elegant and conversational between
the violin and oboe and recorder running
together. The final Vivace leads off
with a serious fugal idea on the oboe
which takes on a life of its own before
being answered by a recorder passage
of much virtuosity. When the violin
joins in it does so rather secretly
before taking up the tune and becoming
an equal partner particularly after
a flashy virtuoso passage of its own.
This busy movement is the longest by
some way and brings the work to a highly
successful conclusion. The three movement
Quartet in G minor is scored for violin,
viola and continuo and is less distinctive
although its final Allegro is quite
exciting.
So, to sum up. This
is a very enjoyable if possibly slightly
esoteric disc of energising and fulfilling
music by a man who seems to have described
himself as a "workaholic"
and who "could not bear idleness"
(according to the publicity with the
disc). The performances by this outstanding
ensemble match the composer’s inspiration
and sometimes even exceed it. I recommend
it to all readers of any persuasion.
Gary Higginson