If I Could Choose Only One Work By...TELEMANN

It Would Have To Be...Tafelmusik
Because it summarizes not just the man, but the entire baroque period view of instrumental music, and does it at the highest level of inspiration.

The List So Far...
1. Ravel: Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose Ballet)
2. Bruckner: Symphony No. 7
3. Schubert: String Quintet in C major
4. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4
5. Mahler: Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection”
6. Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
7. Debussy: Preludes for Piano (Books 1 & 2)
8: Handel: Saul
9. Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro
10. Brahms: String Sextet No. 2 in G major
11. Vaughan Williams: Job
12. Bach: Goldberg Variations
13. R. Strauss: Four Last Songs
14. Berlioz: The Damnation of Faust
15. Haydn: “Paris” Symphonies (Nos. 82-87)
16. Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
17. Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor
18. Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor
19. Chopin: Preludes
20. Verdi: Rigoletto
21. Roussel: Symphony No. 2
22. Copland: Appalachian Spring (complete original ballet)
23. Grieg: Peer Gynt Suites Nos. 1 and 2
24. Bartók: Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion
25. Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 2
26. Rimsky-Korsakov: Opera Suites (Scottish National Orchestra/Järvi) Chandos
27. Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire
28. Smetana: Ma Vlást
29. Falla: Nights in the Gardens of Spain
30. Bizet: Carmen
31. Elgar: In the South
32. Sullivan: The Mikado
33. Dvořák: Symphony No. 8; Cello Concerto (Piatigorsky/Munch/Boston Symphony) RCA
34. Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies
35. Monteverdi: Orfeo
36. Scarlatti: Sonatas
37. Schumann: Fantasie in C, Op. 17
38. Berg: Wozzeck
39. Hermann: Psycho (film score)
40. Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on the Theme of Paganini
41. Purcell: Dido and Aeneas
42. Holst: Suites for Military Band
43. Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex
44. Respighi: Three Botticelli Pictures
45. Sibelius: Symphony No. 5; Pohjola’s Daughter (Bernstein, New York Philharmonic) Sony
46. Britten: The Turn of the Screw
47. Borodin: String Quartet No. 2
48. Janácek: The Cunning Little Vixen
49. Korngold: Violin Concerto
50. Tallis: Spem in Alium
51. Nielsen: Symphony No. 5
52. Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915
53. Hindemith: Symphony in E-flat
54. Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov
55. Franck: Violin Sonata
56. Rossini: La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie)
57. Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 5 “Egyptian”
58. Weill: The Seven Deadly Sins
59. Pergolesi: Stabat Mater
60. Albeniz: Iberia
61. Bernstein: Mass
62. Schreker: Chamber Symphony
63. Walton: Variations on a Theme by Hindemith
64. Dukas: Piano Sonata
65. Gershwin: Porgy and Bess
66. Tippett: Piano Concerto
67. Poulenc: Songs (ATMA, 5 discs)
68. Szymanowski: Violin Concerto No. 1
69. Gluck: Alceste
70. Vivaldi: L’estro armonico, Op. 3
71. Puccini: La Bohème
72. Hanson: Symphony No. 2 “Romantic”
73. Alkan: 12 Etudes in All the Minor Keys, Op. 39
74. Dutilleux: Métaboles
75. Glinka: Kamarinskaya
76. Crumb: Makrokosmos III (Music for a Summer Evening)
77. Biber: Sonata violino solo representativa
78. Josquin: Missa Ave maris stella
79. Arnold: Symphony No. 5
80. Fauré: Piano Quartets (Trio Wanderer) Harmonia Mundi
81. Hovhaness: Fra Angelico
82. Martinu: Symphony No. 6 “Fantaisies symphoniques”
83. Grainger: Lincolnshire Posy
84. Corelli: 12 Concerti grossi, Op. 6
85. Bellini: Norma
86. Ives: “Concord” Sonata
87. John Williams: Jaws (film score)
88. Honegger: Le Roi David (King David)
89. Kodály: “Peacock” Variations
90. Milhaud: Une Vie Heureuse (10 CD Set, Erato)
91. Scriabin: Piano Sonatas (Hamelin/Hyperion)
92. Casella: Concerto for Orchestra
93. Rautavaara: Cantus Arcticus
94. Chabrier: España
95. Reich: Music for 18 Musicians
96. Waxman: Sunset Boulevard (film score)
97. Rameau: Hippolyte et Aricie
98. Suk: A Summer Tale
99. Delius: A Song of the High Hills

[murrayhardie]

What a fascinating and insightful chat. Thanks Dave!

[christopherwilliams]

Telemann suffers from the curse that all extremely prolific composers suffer from: the "eyes glazing over" effect, whereby the mind is blown by the sheer size of the output, so listeners give up before they even start. I think that a few 20th century composers suffer from this as well, namely Martinu, Milhaud, and Krenek. What all three have in common is tremendous diversity of style, which is inexplicably held against them.

[Warp]

I’ve really struggled with baroque, but I listened to this online & then bought a copy :) Thank you kindly Dave

[jesusgarcia]

Agreed. The Parisian Quartets are very dear to me, but I still think that Tafelmusik is a peak of baroque and western music.

[morrigambist]

Not only is the music great to listen to, but it's fun to play or sing as well.

[philippecassagne]

There is a Telemann aria called "Jesu, komm in meine Seele" (from the cantata " Machet die Tore weit ") beautifully sung by Teresa Stich-Randall which, strangely, has never been recorded on CD. There is another version available on CD, but the singer is not as good by far. If a CD editor is interested ...

[arcadianmalerei]

Primo, his long-term Friend GF Handel "borrowed" copiously from these 3 Productions!! Even the MAIN Theme to the Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (rather famous!!) comes from the Triple Violin Concerto in F! Handel recognised good tuneful Musique!! Amusingly, when Handel & Telemann wrote to each other they did so in French!
From the Choral Side of things: Der Tag des Gerichts (1762) OUTstanding!! Also the Donner-Ode 1756+ Another imposing choral gem!! The late, vintage Oratorios 1750+ are superb! I have a great fondness for the Works in TVWV2: = Church Consecration Pieces!!

[goonbelly]

My favorite performance of the entire Tafelmusik is by the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis directed by August Wenzinger. Despite the orchestra's rather HIP sounding name, this performance was recorded on modern instruments in the 1960s. This recording is available as a 4 CD set on Australian Eloquence. Of course, if one prefers their baroque music played at 100mph on scratchy sounding strings and sour, out of tune woodwinds, then these performances are definitely not for you :)

[arcadianmalerei]

Perhaps the most salient Question about the Musique de Table... Which recording is the Best out of the 5-6-7 Versions on CD???

[gusaduba]

And talking about prolific composers, when will you introduce us to your one Villa-Lobos work? I can't think of many composers who cared so much about the tamtam... (By the way, a video with your thoughts on this wonderful instrument would be really interesting)