Georg Philipp Telemann was a prolific composer of cantatas for the Lutheran church. They are comparatively rarely heard but contain many gems.
Telemann was a most ingenious composer and his music is full of variety, wit and beauty. The piece we have chosen is from 1720 written in Frankfurt before Telemann took up his post in Hamburg and represents text from Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. It is an intimate work involving arias with flutes and strings.
Telemann’s Orchestral Suites are written for almost every type and combination of instruments and this one has a particularly virtuosic part for solo viol da gamba making it pretty much a concerto. They are always spirited affairs, containing collections of dances, following a grand overture. This characterful piece is full of delight and humour, alternating with sonorous and tender moments.
Bach’s Cantata 198 , Trauerrode , is a beautiful secular Funeral Ode ('Let Princess, let still one more glance') written for the late wife of August ll the Strong, Elector of Saxony in 1727. It describes the state’s shock at the death of the princess and how she will be mourned and celebrates her memory in sublime music. It is richly scored for flutes, oboes d’amore, strings including viols da gamba and creates a georgeous texture from which wonderful arias and choruses are set.
Bach’s Sinfonia from Cantata 42 is a well known piece, virtually a concerto grosso movement for oboes, bassoon and strings.