Telemann, Concerto for Flute and Violin

During his long life, the self-taught musician Georg Philipp Telemann had enough time to publish three autobiographies, the first at the age of 37 in 1718. Two more followed, in 1729 and 1739. Thanks to them, it can be stated with some certainty that his output came to total around 3,600 works. An astonishing output, to say the least, if we remember that Johann Sebastian Bach, one of the most prolific musicians in the history of music, produced in a similar lifespan "barely" 1,200, although in this case it must be borne in mind that much of his music was lost or simply remained uncatalogued. 

The craft
Telemann composed without correction, almost spontaneously. His friend Handel went so far as to say that he could compose a motet as easily as everybody else could write a letter. Such spontaneity, of course, meant that at certain periods of his life his output bordered on routine work, a circumstance that was otherwise common to most of his contemporary colleagues. So none of this, we believe, must have troubled the composer greatly.

A wide reception
Regarded as the most significant representative of the North German school in the first half of the 18th century, his music is essentially simple and natural (shall we say, spontaneous), so it was guaranteed to reach a wide audience. As is evident from the three autobiographical versions as a whole, the author was convinced that those who wanted to reach a wide audience had to write better than those who addressed a cultured minority.

G.P. Telemann (1681 - 1767)

Diversity of genres
Given the ecclesiastical posts that allowed him to live, his output is primarily of a religious nature. However, this did not prevent him from venturing into almost all genres. His instrumental output abounds in overtures, concertos, fantasies, and fugues for almost all solo instruments.

Concerto for flute and violin in E minor, TWV 52:e3
(TWV: Telemann Werke Verzeichnis, Telemann's catalogue of works)(52:e3: the third work in E minor (e) in the set of pieces catalogued under No. 52)

Published in 1768, a year after his death, the concerto is in five movements in the sequence: fast - slow - fast - slow - fast, although the first movement has no tempo indication. Like all baroque concertos, it is short, lasting no more than ten minutes.

Movements:

00 [Allegro]

03:12  Adagio

05:32  Presto

06:53  Adagio

07:42  Allegro

The central movement, presto, links with the very short adagio without interruption, a sort of link with the allegro finale. Although this is a double concerto, it is the violin that takes the lead: the flute does not participate in the presto.

The rendition is by the New York-based REBEL Ensemble for Baroque Music.