Georg Philipp Telemann

In 1731 Telemann’s independent publishing enterprise issued what was in every respect an unusual cycle: III Trietti metodichi e III Scherzi. Previously, Trietti (little trios) and scherzos had not existed as multi-movement compositions. The pieces, all of them in three movements, are delightfully buoyant.

The two Quartets featured here interestingly employ a bassoon as the basso continuo

Telemann was an imaginative and highly prolific composer and this recording is the perfect collection to hear some of his concertos for various combinations of woodwinds and string instruments, with either a baroque flute or recorder as the solo instrument.

“Beautiful and impressive playing like this sets the standards to which others must aspire! “ Early Music Review

A wonderful collection of Overtures and Concerto’s by Georg Philipp Telemann never before recorded on period instruments; 3 overtures and 2 concertos featuring soloists from the Ensemble Arion under the leadership of Jaap ter Linden. Hidden Treasures!

Variations, the latest CD by REBaroque, aims to explore the borderland between Baroque music and folk music. That fact that early art music rose directly from a folk-music tradition is by no means a new discovery but the two genres remain close and this CD takes us on a far beyond what are normally considered the limits of Baroque music.

“With this disc we want to offer the listener what people have always appreciated: really memorable tunes in new and old guises.” (Maria Lindal)

The flute was an extremely popular solo instrument throughout the 18th century – both in its older form, the recorder, and its more modern variation, the transverse flute. All the pieces on this disc were written for the transverse flute mixed with a variety of other instruments. Telemann’s Concerto in E minor juxtaposes the transverse flute with the recorder, as a farewell to the old and a welcome to the new, and Fasch’s Concerto in G major is for the somewhat unusual combination for transverse flute and oboe.

The soloists and the conductor on this recording have all contributed to the history of German flute performances. Hans-Martin Linde has been a pioneer of recorder music since the 1950s as well as a successful conductor and Günther Höller and Konrad Hünteler are both virtuosos on their respective instruments.

The orchestral suites on this enchanting new disc of Telemann are beautiful works, considered by some as the most difficult pieces Telemann wrote for recorder and oboe. The music fascinates from the first to the last note with its originality and this is due to its Polish inflection. Telemann once wrote "a Polish tune makes the whole world jig."

South African soloist Carin van Heerden is a founding member of the Austrian L'Orfeo Baroque Orchestra and performs with this orchestra regularly. Various CD's with this orchestra have been released on CPO and have brought international acclaim

Telemann was one of the most influential and prolific composers of the baroque. An accomplished performer on a variety of instruments, he taught many prominent composers of the period.

The trio sonatas were probably composed for his star pupils to perform.

Far from being academic studies, there is much drama and poetry in these works, from Vivaldian storms, to operatic duets with melodramatic sighs and histrionics, and ‘Hungarian’ dance finales .

Telemann said of the trio sonatas ‘I was flattered to hear I had given the best of myself ’.

Fabio Biondi joins Tripla Concordia for the live recordings on CD1 made at a concert in 1997.

The recordings on CD2 are from 2001, and are from sessions.

Tripla Concordia have received high praise from Diapason in France for their recordings, as well as prizes in France, Spain and Korea for the Telemann and Bach on the Cantus label released in 1998.

This bargain box contains recordings made between 1988 and 1999 accompanied by extensive introductory material. Alongside five CDs devoted exclusively to Telemann, and almost every work for recorder that he composed, are one of music for French horn and another of music for the rarer instruments of the baroque flute family. Works by composers contemporary with the Hamburg Kapellmeister have also been included in this new selection of re-releases from the Ricercar back catalogue.