This Week in Classical Music: March 9, 2020.The problem with Telemann.Georg Philipp Telemann, born in Magdeburg on March 14th of 1681, was one of the most prolific composers of his time, and probably of any time.If we consider his instrumental output, here’s what we see in Grove: “125 orchestral suites, 125 concertos (for one to four soloists or without soloists), several dozen other orchestral works and sonatas in five to seven parts, nearly 40 quartets, 130 trios, 87 solos, 80 works for one to four instruments without bass and 145 pieces for keyboard (excluding two collections containing 50 minuets apiece).”But that’s just a small part of his output: church music constituted the bulk of it, and here the numbers are eye-popping: Telemann wrote more than 1700 cantatas!He also wrote several dozen operas.This creates a problem of vast proportions: how can we practically assess Telemann’s output, how can we compare the quality of different pieces, establish a “hierarchy” which may not be totally proper but could be useful in education and promotion of his music?Mozart wrote 41 symphonies, not all of them are equal but public perception is clear about the last three: they are considered his crowning achievement.Same is true with practically all other classical composers.But who would help us with Telemann?Was there a person who’ve heard, or at least read all of his music?Probably not.That makes listening to Telemann a rather frustrating experience, as what we hear (and what is being performed) is practically random.And Telemann was an uneven composer: some of his pieces are clearly rather mediocre, but some are absolutely superb.Philipp Spitta, the German music historian and musicologist who wrote a magisterial biography of Johann Sebastian Bach, held Telemann in low esteem and compared, unfavorably, some of his cantatas to those of Bach.Albert Schwetzer seconded Spitta in his own biography of Bach.Now we know that some of those “Bach” cantatas were actually written by Telemann.So how many more gems are we missing?Here, for example, is one of them, in this case one of Telemann’s Darmstadt Overtures (in D Major).The Cologne Chamber Orchestra is conducted by Helmut Müller-Brühl.
We’d also like to note the German conductor Hans Knappertsbusch, who was born on March 12th of 1888. Knappertsbusch was a leading interpreter of the music of Wagner.Politically a conservative, he nonetheless never joined the Nazi party, even though he was pressured into it and his contract with the Munich Opera was revoked (but later restored).He had many minor run-ins with the Nazis; what saved him was his popularity both with the German public and internationally.In 1944 he was included in the expanded Gottbegnadeten-Liste ("God-gifted list" or "Important Artist Exempt List") of the artists considered by the Nazis to be critically important to German culture.On that list were also Herbert von Karajan, Karl Böhm, Eugen Jochum and Wilhelm Furtwängler, although Furtwängler was later removed from the list.After the war Knappertsbusch lived in Munich; he conducted the first season of the reopened Bayreuth Festival from 1951 and continued conducting there for several years to great acclaim.He died in Munich on October 25th of 1965.
The problem with Telemann, 2020
This Week in Classical Music: March 9, 2020. The problem with Telemann. Georg Philipp Telemann, born in Magdeburg on March 14th of 1681, was one of the most prolific composers of his time, and probably of any time. If we consider his instrumental output, here’s what we see in
Grove: “125 orchestral suites, 125 concertos (for one to four soloists or without soloists), several dozen other orchestral works and sonatas in five to seven parts, nearly 40 quartets, 130 trios, 87 solos, 80 works for one to four instruments without bass and 145 pieces for keyboard (excluding two collections containing 50 minuets apiece).” But that’s just a small part of his output: church music constituted the bulk of it, and here the numbers are eye-popping: Telemann wrote more than 1700 cantatas! He also wrote several dozen operas. This creates a problem of vast proportions: how can we practically assess Telemann’s output, how can we compare the quality of different pieces, establish a “hierarchy” which may not be totally proper but could be useful in education and promotion of his music? Mozart wrote 41 symphonies, not all of them are equal but public perception is clear about the last three: they are considered his crowning achievement. Same is true with practically all other classical composers. But who would help us with Telemann? Was there a person who’ve heard, or at least read all of his music? Probably not. That makes listening to Telemann a rather frustrating experience, as what we hear (and what is being performed) is practically random. And Telemann was an uneven composer: some of his pieces are clearly rather mediocre, but some are absolutely superb. Philipp Spitta, the German music historian and musicologist who wrote a magisterial biography of Johann Sebastian Bach, held Telemann in low esteem and compared, unfavorably, some of his cantatas to those of Bach. Albert Schwetzer seconded Spitta in his own biography of Bach. Now we know that some of those “Bach” cantatas were actually written by Telemann. So how many more gems are we missing? Here, for example, is one of them, in this case one of Telemann’s Darmstadt Overtures (in D Major). The Cologne Chamber Orchestra is conducted by Helmut Müller-Brühl.
We’d also like to note the German conductor Hans Knappertsbusch, who was born on March 12th of 1888. Knappertsbusch was a leading interpreter of the music of Wagner. Politically a conservative, he nonetheless never joined the Nazi party, even though he was pressured into it and his contract with the Munich Opera was revoked (but later restored). He had many minor run-ins with the Nazis; what saved him was his popularity both with the German public and internationally. In 1944 he was included in the expanded Gottbegnadeten-Liste ("God-gifted list" or "Important Artist Exempt List") of the artists considered by the Nazis to be critically important to German culture. On that list were also Herbert von Karajan, Karl Böhm, Eugen Jochum and Wilhelm Furtwängler, although Furtwängler was later removed from the list. After the war Knappertsbusch lived in Munich; he conducted the first season of the reopened Bayreuth Festival from 1951 and continued conducting there for several years to great acclaim. He died in Munich on October 25th of 1965.