Georg Philipp Telemann was born in Magdeburg, the son
of a Lutheran deacon who died in 1685, leaving the
mother to raise their three children alone. The youth
showed remarkable talent in music, but was temporarily
discouraged in his chosen pursuit by Puritan Lutherans,
who told Telemann's mother that he would turn out no
better than "a clown, a tightrope walker or a
marmot-trainer." In opposition to his mother's wishes,
Telemann continued to study in secrecy until she
relented, allowing him to t...(+)
Georg Philipp Telemann was born in Magdeburg, the son
of a Lutheran deacon who died in 1685, leaving the
mother to raise their three children alone. The youth
showed remarkable talent in music, but was temporarily
discouraged in his chosen pursuit by Puritan Lutherans,
who told Telemann's mother that he would turn out no
better than "a clown, a tightrope walker or a
marmot-trainer." In opposition to his mother's wishes,
Telemann continued to study in secrecy until she
relented, allowing him to train under the highly
respected Kantor Benedict Christiani, at the Old City
School. Outside of some early lessons in reading
tablature, Telemann was self-taught and was capable of
playing the flute, violin, viola da gamba, oboe,
trombone, double bass, and several keyboard
instruments. Telemann began to write music from
childhood, producing an opera, Sigismundus, by age
12.
Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a
composer against his family's wishes. After studying in
Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hildesheim, Telemann entered
the University of Leipzig to study law, but eventually
settled on a career in music. He held important
positions in Leipzig, Sorau, Eisenach, and Frankfurt
before settling in Hamburg in 1721, where he became
musical director of that city's five main churches.
While Telemann's career prospered, his personal life
was always troubled: his first wife died less than two
years after their marriage, and his second wife had
extramarital affairs and accumulated a large gambling
debt before leaving him. As part of his duties, he
wrote a considerable amount of music for educating
organists under his direction. This includes 48 chorale
preludes and 20 small fugues (modal fugues) to
accompany his chorale harmonisations for 500 hymns. His
music incorporates French, Italian, and German national
styles, and he was at times even influenced by Polish
popular music. He remained at the forefront of all new
musical tendencies, and his music stands as an
important link between the late Baroque and early
Classical styles. The Telemann Museum in Hamburg is
dedicated to him.
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1757) was a very prolific
composer having completed over 3000 works including
1043 church cantatas, 46 settings of the Passion, and
nearly 50 concertos for various instruments. The six
sonatas in this edition, first published in 1727, were
originally for two flutes or two violins. Due to the
somewhat limited range of only two octaves and a step,
the duets are also very practical for any other two
like treble woodwinds. Note that if B-flat clarinet is
used with a C instrument, the clarinet part must be
transposed.
As was common with most eighteenth century scores, few
articulation marks were included in the original
manuscript. This edition does not add new
articulations, but does offer some suggestions in a
narrative that briefly discusses appropriate use of
slurs and trills. Performers may add articulation and
ornamentation according to their experience and
personal tastes.
Each sonata has 4 short movements with each of the two
parts requiring equal ability.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonates_sans_basse_(Tele
mann)).
Although originally created for 2 Recorders (Flutes or
Violins), I created this Transcription of the Sonata I
in F Major (TWV 40:103) for Flute Duet.
PARTITION