Jed Wentz Telemann: 12 Fantasias For Solo Flute

Telemann's 12 Fantasias for solo flute are problematical works. They exist in a single Italian manuscript, designated as being for the violin, and with the name of Telemann penciled in after the fact. A flute or recorder seems more likely than a violin for the seventh-to-low-tonic cadences and other turns of phrase that frequently occur in the music, and Telemann does indeed seem a likely composer. The 12 pieces look like sonatas at first glance, with sequences of mostly three or four short movements in with Italian tempo designations (including the intriguing "spirituoso"), but they turn out to be fantasias as advertised; some of the movements are extremely short, and several of the longer ones are broken up into tiny chunks.

Born in 1681, Georg Philip Telemann would inevitably suffer from comparisons with one of the towering figures of western Classical music, born just four years later: Johann Sebastian Bach. Although after his death Telemann may have been constantly cast into the Leipzig composers shadow, during his lifetime he was exalted as Bachs equal and was considered one of the greatest German composers of the early 18th century. Certainly, the size of his output compares very favourably with Bachs; Telemann was also a highly productive composer, writing over 3,000 works during his lifetime (although not all have survived). Despite his popularity falling away in the 19th century, today Telemann is almost as highly regarded as he was in his own lifetime ¬ the large number of new recordings on this edition pays tribute to the flurry of interest that has grown around the composer Telemann over the past 30 years.