Georg Philipp Telemann was one of the composers in Germany who
was a representative of a style called 'der vermischte Geschmack',
or - in French - the 'goûts réunis'. Its main feature
was the integration of French and Italian elements in the traditional
German style. There can be little doubt, though, that Telemann
had a strong preference for the French style. This could be one
of the reasons that he didn't pay much attention to the genre
of the solo concerto which was especially popular in Italy. Instead
he wrote a large number of orchestral suites, a typically French
genre. This interest he shared with Christoph Graupner, who for
the largest part of his life worked in Darmstadt. The fact that
this production is entitled 'Darmstadt Overtures' has everything
to do with it.
Telemann had become acquainted with the French style early in
his career. In 1697 he became a scholar at the Gymnasium Adreanum
in Hildesheim, and regularly visited Hanover whose court chapel
was modelled on French lines and whose
Kapellmeister since
1695 was Jean Baptiste Farinel. After his studies in Leipzig
Telemann took up the position of
Kapellmeister to Count
Erdmann II of Promnitz in Sorau in Lower Lusatia - now part of
Poland. The count had travelled through Italy and France and
had developed a strong preference for the French style. He had
brought with him scores of music by Lully and Campra, and Telemann
had plenty of opportunity to study those works. It is here that
he started to compose overtures, not only for orchestra but also
for other scorings.
It is sometimes suggested Telemann composed around 1000 overtures,
but that is highly exaggerated. It is assumed, though, that the
largest part of his output in this genre has been lost. The number
of orchestral overtures which have been preserved is 134, the
majority of them (96) in Darmstadt. These are now in the Hessische
Landes- und Hochschulbibilothek; 72 of these are only known from
this source. Accordingly the title of this set does not refer
to something all that remarkable since about half of all overtures
by Telemann known today are from Darmstadt. Originally the title
was only given to the release of the first four overtures, in
C and D major and in d and g minor. The two remaining overtures
are from another production but they are also preserved in Darmstadt.
The Overture in a minor belongs amongst the most popular works
by Telemann.
The fact that so many of these works have been preserved in Darmstadt
has a specific reason. In 1685 Prince Ernst Ludwig, Landgrave
of Hesse, visited France. He was so impressed by the French style
that he engaged several French musicians for his chapel. In 1712
Christoph Graupner was appointed
Kapellmeister in Darmstadt,
and that same year Telemann moved to Frankfurt - about 30 kilometers
from Darmstadt - to take up the position of city music director.
Telemann and Graupner knew each other from their time as students
in Leipzig, and they had remained in close contact since. Telemann
sometimes borrowed members of the Darmstadt chapel when he needed
additional musicians for specific occasions. The library in Darmstadt
contains about 250 overtures, among them the 96 by Telemann.
They are mostly copies by Johann Samuel Endler, who since 1723
was
Vice-Kapellmeister in Darmstadt. At that time Telemann
had already moved to Hamburg. But his ties with Graupner and
Darmstadt remained intact: as late as 1765 Telemann composed
an overture for the court in Darmstadt.
Whereas the structure of the keyboard suite was formalised towards
the end of the 17th century, composers had an almost unlimited
freedom in the composition of orchestral suites. Every suite
opens with an overture - after which the whole piece was usually
called 'Ouverture' - but otherwise there was no hierarchy nor
any rule as to which dances should be included. As a result Telemann's
overtures show a great variety in structure and in the order
of the various movements. Of the traditional dances only the
menuet appears in all overtures. Some overtures include dance-forms
such as: bourrée, gavotte, courante, gigue, allemande,
sarabande and passepied. The most original is the Overture in
g minor, which has a menuet and a loure. In addition it contains
a rondeau - which also appears in several other overtures - and
three character pieces; 'Les Irresoluts' (the indecisives), 'Les
Capricieux' (the capricious) and a 'Gasconnade' (bragging). We
find pieces like these in other overtures, like 'Harlequinade'
(C6, D15), 'Sommeille' (C6) and 'Les Plaisirs' (a2). Telemann
also makes use of dances and other musical forms from various
European traditions, like 'Espagniol' (C6), a (scottish) Hornpipe
(d3), Polonaise (a2), Plainte and Chaconne (both f1). The latter
two are movements that were indispensable in French opera.
In the Overture in a minor the third movement is an 'air à l'italien'
which is a reference to the Italian style. It is not surprising
that this overture contains such a movement. It is one of the
very few which have a solo part that connects them with the solo
concerto which was, as I wrote above, a typical Italian phenomenon.
Although the Overture in f minor contains parts for two recorders,
these only play in the chaconne, otherwise this overture is for
strings and basso continuo. In the four other overtures the three
oboes lack solo parts, instead being integrated into the orchestra.
The treatment of the oboes - and the bassoon in two of the overtures
- is various. In the Overture in g minor they play mainly
colla
parte with the strings. In the Overtures in C and D there
is a clear contrast between the woodwind and the strings: they
are sometimes involved in a dialogue, and the writing of the
woodwind parts is idiomatic. The Overture in d minor is largely
written as a dialogue between wind and strings. In this recording
this aspect is emphasized by a division of the ensemble into
two choirs with their own keyboard instrument playing the basso
continuo - harpsichord and organ respectively.
In the original notes of the recording of these four overtures
Nikolaus Harnoncourt wrote about his decisions in regard to performance
practice. Although some elements in his notes are common knowledge
today and hardly need to be written about, it is a shame that
these notes are not included in the booklet. The liner-notes
are rather general about Telemann and the overture. The original
notes were by Martin Ruhnke and are sorely missed. I would have
liked to see a new essay which incorporated at least the main
elements of the original notes.
Although these recordings are more than 30 years old they still
sound very fresh. And as Nikolaus Harnoncourt is one of the most
analytical minds in the world of early music one may expect to
hear fine things lost in the hands of lesser interpreters. All
fine details are revealed and the special effects Telemann frequently
included in his music are explored to the full. The four overtures
with oboes are quite exciting to listen to. The two other overtures
suffer from a less impressive sound quality. But the Overture
in a minor is still worthwhile and this is largely down to the
solo part taken by Frans Brüggen. His ornamentation, in
particular in the 'air à l'italien', is exemplary - a
model of creativity and good taste.
These overtures make for good listening, More than many other
recordings - including more recent ones - they make clear what
a versatile and highly original composer Telemann was. In 2004
Harnoncourt received the Georg-Philipp-Telemann-Award of the
German city of Magdeburg - Telemann's birthplace. This was awarded
for Harnoncourt’s activities in promoting Telemann’s
music. This set and many other Harnoncourt recordings show that
this award was richly deserved.
Johan van Veen
Frans Brüggen*, Jeannette
van Wingerden** (recorder) 
