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.
From the original 36 Fantasies for the Harpsichord by
Georg Philipp Telemann, the individual pieces are
grouped into three series of twelve. They are very much
representative of Telemann's introduction to Germany of
the galant style from France, which is characterized by
a lighter and less contrapuntal style of writing.
Furthermore, Telemann's Fantaisies TWV 33 are
considered to be precursors of the Classical sonata
form, thus preparing the way for Carl Philipp Emanuel
Bach in the eighteenth century.
Although originally created for Keyboard (Harpsichord),
I created this Arrangement of the Fantasy I from 12
Fantasie (TWV 33:1-12 No. 1) for Violin & Viola.
SHEET MUSIC