Composer: Georg Philipp Telemann
Performer: Nevermind
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Alpha
Catalogue: ALPHA299
Release: 2017
Size: 1.26 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Zwanzig kleine Fugen
01. Fuga 14, TWV 30:14
Nouveaux quatuors parisiens, Quartet No. 4 in B Minor, TWV 43:h2
02. I. Prélude (Vivement)
03. II. Coulant
04. III. Gay
05. IV. Vite
06. V. Triste
07. VI. Menuet (Modéré)
Quatrième livre de quatuors, Sonata II in F Major, TWV 43:F1
08. I. Adagio
09. II. Allegro
10. III. Adagio
11. IV. Allegro
Quatuors parisiens, Concerto I in G Major, TWV 43:G1
12. I. Grave – Allegro – Grave – Allegro
13. II. Largo
14. III. Presto
15. IV. Largo
16. V. Allegro
Nouveaux quatuors parisiens, Quartet No. 6 in E Minor, TWV 43:e4
17. I. Prélude
18. II. Gay
19. III. Vite
20. IV. Gracieusement
21. V. Distrait
22. VI. Modéré
After their first recording on Alpha, ‘Conversations’, featuring rarely heard pieces by Quentin and Guillemain, Anna Besson (flute), Louis Creac’h (violin), Robin Pharo (viola da gamba) and Jean Rondeau (harpsichord) continue to introduce the public to the riches of a repertory that has been too long ignored, with this recording of Georg Philipp Telemann’s Nouveaux Quatuors parisiens.
At the height of his glory, the German composer left Hamburg in 1737 to spend time in Paris and appreciate the city’s vibrant musical life. There he composed a new set of quartets that came to be called the ‘Paris Quartets’ and in which he celebrated the union of the European styles of his time, at the zenith of the Baroque. The four musicians and friends of Nevermind pursue their exuberant conversation, as virtuosic and eloquent as ever.
An exceptionally prolific and versatile composer, Telemann reached a high musical stature in Germany at a very early stage. From 1715, aware that the provincial German musical market didn’t offer any outlet for his hundreds (and soon to be thousands) of works, he took it upon himself to broadcast his chamber music by publishing it in his own publishing house in Frankfurt. He thus became an entrepreneur and businessman, in addition to being a composer and instrumentalist. Starting in 1725, he pursued and developed this side activity in Hamburg, another very important business center. One of the outcomes of this pioneering work was that it drew the attention of Parisian flautist Michel Blavet. We think that it was Blavet who invited Telemann to Paris in 1737-38, giving him access to the most influential salons and even to the famous Concert Spirituel. His Sonatas for Two Flutes without Bass or Violin or Transverse Flute (1726) might well have been the source of their relationship. But the decisive role can probably be attributed to the 6 Quartets (1730), with which Telemann tackled new grounds in the area of chamber music for four voices, uniting the very heterogeneous sonorities of the transverse flute, the violin and the viola da gamba (or the cello) in a unique and very coherent trio of soloists, accompanied by a continuous bass. Around 1750, the Parisian publisher Le Clerc sold partitions in almost every chamber music genres from Telemann, including these so sought-after quartets, of which the present recording offers examples coming from the first, second and fourth volumes. At the helm, the superb ensemble Nevermind with Anna Besson on flute, Louis Creac’h on violin, Robin Pharo on viola da gamba and Jean Rondeau on harpsichord.