G. Ph. Telemann - "Musique de Table" 1/1, Ouverture-Suite in E minor, TWV 55:e1 (Belder)

Musique de Table, Production I, No. I. Ouverture-Suite in E Minor for 2 Flutes, Strings and Basso Continuo -------------------------------------------------- Harpsichord & Concertmaster: Pieter-Jan Belder Transverse flute: Wilbert Hazelzet Violin: Rémy Baudet Cello: Jaaap ter Linden Musica Amphion Telemann: Tafelmusik (Complete) Recorded at the Remonstrantse Doopsgezinde Gemeente Deventer, Netherlands in 2003 Brilliant Classics -------------------------------------------------- I. Ouverture: 0:00 II. Réjouissance: 8:55 III. Rondeau: 13:09 IV. Loure : 15:40 V. Passepied: 19:33 VI. Air. Un peu vivement: 22:32 VII. Gigue: 26:53 -------------------------------------------------- The Musique de Table (Table music) is one of Telemann's most widely known compositions; it is the climax and at the same time one of the last examples of courtly table music. This work was presented in three "productions," i.e., three volumes that shared the same design: an overture followed by a suite of dances and characteristic pieces, a quartet, a concerto, a trio, a solo (in fact a sonata with continuo) and a "conclusion." This closing piece had the same instrumentation as the overture, and thus not only closed the suite, but also substantiated the cyclical aspect much desired by Telemann for each of his three productions. That Telemann, at a time when the convention was to publish by groups of six or twelve works belonging to the same genre, choose to break with tradition is only further testimony of his interest in the mixed style (Bach later voiced similar aesthetic beliefs when he devoted the second part of his Clavier-íœbung to a Concerto nach Italianische Gusto and an Overture nach Französische Art). The title Telemann gave his publication, "Table Music," may lead us to believe that the work only served as pleasant background to various gastronomic activities. Apart from the fact that the music, as was often the case with chamber works, may have performed such a duty, a title such as Overtures, Concertos or Sonatas would have probably had less impact from a publicity point of view. Indeed, musical works written and published with a reference to the table had been legion since the beginning of the 17th century. The Taffel-Consort published by Thomas Simpson in Hamburg in 1621, the Partitas of Heinrich Biber's Mensa sonora (1680) or the Simphonies pour les souper du Roy of Michel-Richard Delalande, among other examples, were all written in accordance with the idea, typical of Baroque aesthetics, that all human activities should coincide and that life's delights should meet, but were also conceived with the aim elevating the arts to princely heights. Outhere Music --------------------------------------------------- Composed by Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767) in 1733