Telemann, G.P.: 6 Concertos (Georg Philipp Telemann)

Album review

It's not clear why Telemann called these works "concertos" when they are really sonatas for transverse flute and harpsichord, with no tutti instrumental group involved. Annotator Jean-Claude Thériault works up an argument that it was due to the "concerted" nature of the music, with the flute and harpsichord playing generally equal roles instead of assigning ritornello-like music to the keyboard. It's hard to say whether he's right, but it's precisely the departure from the Baroque trio sonata and concerto models that makes this music so interesting. It is strikingly modern for the late 1710s, when the first edition of the music was published. These pieces had a complicated edition history, dutifully laid out by Thériault in the booklet as he tries to link various pieces to Italian and French models. But the big picture is that the music is all over the map -- in a good way! There's dense Bachian counterpoint. There are indeed movements that sound like reduced Vivaldi concerto material. There are harmonically static passages that sound like they could have come out of Scarlatti sonatas, with a flute added. And there is an overall light mood described by the word galant, before that word was in really wide use. In the hands of French Canadian Baroque flutist Claire Guimond, playing a large wooden flute, and harpsichordist Luc Beauséjour, it adds up to a sparkling hour of music. They catch the small details, yet they're not scholarly or pedantic; Guimond's tone is fetching and her intonation keen.
© TiVo