German Baroque Music
Georg Philipp Telemann
1861-1767
Telemann was the son of a Protestant minister and was given a good general education but never actually received music lessons. Though he showed great musical gifts at an early age, he was discouraged by his family from becoming a professional musician, at that time neither an attractive nor a remunerative occupation. By self-teaching, however, he acquired great facility in composing and in playing such diverse musical instruments as the violin, recorder, oboe, viola da gamba, chalumeau, and clavier. In 1701 he enrolled at the University of Leipzig as a law student, but musical activities soon prevailed and were to engross him for the rest of his life.
Leipzig became the stepping-stone for Telemann’s musical career. The municipal authorities there realized that, apart from his musical gifts, the young firebrand possessed extraordinary energy, diligence, and a talent for organization. They commissioned him to assist the organist of the Thomaskirche, Johann Kuhnau, by composing church cantatas for alternate Sundays, and also gave him a position as organist at the university chapel, Neuenkirche. Telemann reorganized the collegium musicum, the student musical society, into an efficient amateur orchestra that gave public concerts (then a novelty) and became director of the Leipzig Opera, for which he also composed. Telemann’s next positions were at two princely courts: first as kapellmeister (conductor of the court orchestra) in Sorau (now Żary, Poland; 1705–08), then as concertmaster (first violinist) and later kapellmeister in Eisenach (1708–12). By playing, conducting, studying, and composing he gained the musical knowledge, practical experience, and facility in composing that were to be vital when he assumed the musical directorship of Frankfurt am Main (1712–21) and Hamburg (1721–67). In Frankfurt he was musical director of two churches and in charge of the town’s official music. As in Leipzig, he reorganized the students’ collegium musicum and gave public concerts with the group. In Frankfurt, Telemann started publishing music that made him famous not only in Germany but also abroad. As musical director of Hamburg, one of the outstanding musical positions of the time, he supplied the five main churches with music, was in charge of the Hamburg Opera, and served as cantor at Hamburg’s renowned humanistic school, the Johanneum, where he also was an instructor in music. In Hamburg, too, he directed a collegium musicum and presented public concerts. In 1729 he refused a call to organize a German orchestra at the Russian court. He had also declined an offer in 1722 from municipal authorities in Leipzig to succeed Kuhnau as organist of the Thomaskirche. This proffered position, which had been promised him 17 years earlier by authorities in the event of Kuhnau’s death, manifested the high esteem in which even the young Telemann was held. (Following Telemann’s refusal, the position fell to Johann Sebastian Bach.) In addition to all his activities in Hamburg, he also supplied (by contract) the courts of Eisenach and Bayreuth, as well as the town of Frankfurt, with music and continued to publish his compositions.
Telemann’s Style
A master of the principal styles of his time—German, Italian, and French—he could write with ease and fluency in any of them and often absorbed influences of Polish and English music. He composed equally as well for the church as for opera and concerts. His music was natural in melody, bold in harmonies, buoyant in rhythm, and beautifully orchestrated. Profound or witty, serious or light, it never lacked quality or variety. Telemann’s printed compositions number more than 50 opuses, among them (counting each as one item) the famous collection Musique de table (published in 1733; containing three orchestral suites, three concerti, three quartets, three trios, and three sonatas); the first music periodical, Der getreue Music-Meister (1728–29; containing 70 compositions); Der harmonische Gottesdienst (1725–26; 72 church cantatas); and 36 fantasias for harpsichord.
A German Great
Except for a brief journey to France (1737–38), where he was enthusiastically received, Telemann never left Germany. He married twice and had eight sons and three daughters. His first wife died young in childbirth; his second wife absconded with a Swedish officer, leaving Telemann with a debt of 3,000 taler. Apart from being a prolific composer, he was also a keen writer; his two autobiographies of 1718 and 1739 are comparatively well documented. He published a long poem after his first wife’s death, and many words in his vocal compositions came from his own pen. Especially noteworthy are Telemann’s many prefaces to collections of his music, which contain a great amount of practical advice on how his compositions (as well as those of his contemporaries) should be performed. A friend of Bach and Handel, he was godfather to Bach’s son Carl Philipp Emanuel, who succeeded as musical director of Hamburg after Telemann’s death at the age of 86.
Terminology
The Oratorio
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The earliest surviving oratorio is Rappresentazione di anima et di corpo (The Representation of Soul and Body) by Emilio del Cavaliere, produced in 1600 with dramatic action, including ballet. Toward the mid-17th century Giacomo Carissimi introduced a more sober type with a Latin text based on the Old Testament. His oratorios (some short, some longer) are simple and free from extravagance and make effective use of the chorus. Their style is basically operatic, though, and the most memorable episodes are those in which the narrative is interrupted and the characters express their emotions. Latin- and Italian-language types of oratorios continued in use, but the vernacular Italian oratorio volgare, sung by virtuoso singers, was more popular and flourished until the late 18th century. Stage action had been abandoned in the oratorios of Italy by the late 18th century. The French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier, who studied with Carissimi, successfully transferred the Italian oratorio to France.
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The German oratorio began with Heinrich Schütz, a composer whose style is a blend of German and Italian elements. His oratorios, confined to Gospel subjects, show great powers of emotional expression and anticipate those of Johann Sebastian Bach in their vigorous treatment of the choruses. In his Easter Oratorio (published 1623) Schütz retains the old convention of setting the words of each character for two or more voices. His oratorios achieve a balance between austerity and exuberance, but by the late 17th century this balance had been disturbed. Passion oratorio texts (dealing with the death of Jesus) of this period often abandon biblical words for a mixture of rhymed paraphrase and lyrical commentary of a more or less sentimental nature.
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J.S. Bach’s two great Passion oratorios, the Passion According to St. John (first performed 1724) and the Passion According to St. Matthew (1729), restored the balance attained by Schütz, though they are written on a greater scale and are enriched by the introduction of the later Italian aria. Bach, besides increasing the significance of the chorale, or congregational hymn, used the evangelist’s narrative as a framework for binding the dramatic element (the words of the characters) to the epic and contemplative sections (arias, chorales, opening and final choruses). There is nothing novel about Bach’s settings except their genius, which holds the long and complex structure in perfect balance. The Christmas Oratorio and other works by Bach that bear the name oratorio are more properly church cantatas.
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G.F. Handel’s oratorios are essentially theatrical presentations that reflect his experience as an opera composer. Most of his oratorios use biblical stories put into modern librettos. Influenced by opera, masque, and even Greek tragedy, they were performed by opera singers in theatres (though ecclesiastical prejudice forbade stage action) and have no direct connection with the church. The breadth of Handel’s achievement in the genre has been distorted by the concentration of posterity on such oratorios as Saul and Israel in Egypt (1739), Messiah (1742), and Samson (1743). In these and Handel’s other oratorios, his mastery of characterization and of every type of choral utterance is crowned by a deep and sympathetic pondering of the moral issues involved in the story.
An Oratorio is a large-scale musical composition on a sacred or semi-sacred subject, for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra.
An oratorio’s text is usually based on scripture, and the narration necessary to move from scene to scene is supplied by recitatives sung by various voices to prepare the way for airs and choruses. A basically dramatic method is used in all successful oratorios, though they may or may not be produced with theatrical action.
Sacred Texts IN CONCERT
The oratorio is not intended for liturgical use, it may be performed in both churches and concert halls. The principal schools of oratorios are the Italian, essentially a form of religious opera; the German, developed from treatment of the Passion story; and the English, synthesized by the composer George Frideric Handel from several forms.
The term oratorio derives from the oratory of the Roman church in which, in the mid-16th century, St. Philip Neri instituted moral musical entertainments, which were divided by a sermon, hence the two-act form common in early Italian oratorio.
Telemann’s Legacy
In the eyes of his 18th-century contemporaries, Georg Philipp Telemann was the greatest living composer. The dreaded critic Johann Mattheson wrote of him that “Corelli and Lully may be justly honoured but Telemann is above all praise.” Through his public concerts Telemann introduced to the general public music previously reserved for the court, the aristocracy, or a limited number of burghers. His enormous output of publications provided instrumental and vocal material for Protestant churches throughout Germany, for orchestras, and for a great variety of amateur and professional musicians.
The multiplicity of Telemann’s activities and the great number of his compositions are remarkable, indeed. In his lifetime he was most admired for his church compositions. These vary from small cantatas, suitable for domestic use or for use in churches with limited means, to large-scale works for soloists, chorus, and orchestra. His secular vocal music also has a wide range, from simple strophic songs to the dramatic cantata Ino, written at the age of 84. Of his operas the comic ones were the most successful, particularly Pimpinone. His orchestral works consist of suites (called ouvertures), concerti grossi, and concerti. His chamber works are remarkable for their quantity, the great variety of instrumental combinations, and the expert writing for each instrument.
After Telemann’s death, the new music styles of Haydn and Mozart obliterated the older ones. And in the 19th century, when the works of Bach and Handel were reappraised, Telemann’s reputation was reduced to that of a prolific but superficial scribbler. In the 20th century, however, a historically and aesthetically more correct opinion has been formed, largely through studies by Max Schneider and Romain Rolland. New editions of his work have appeared, especially since the 1930s, and the interest of players, conductors, and publishers has increased.
(Walter G Bergmann; Britannica)
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