Telling Tales with Telemann: February

TELLING TALES WITH TELEMANN

TELEMANN Der Harmonische Gottesdienst: Estomihi ‘Seele, lerne dich erkennen’ AESOP The Kites and the Swans TELEMANN Sonata for Recorder in C Major TELEMANN Trio Sonata in Bb major Recorded at St Giles Cripplegate

Recorder Sarah Humphrys Cello Jonathan Manson Organ/harpsichord Steven Devine Theorbo David Miller Soprano Zoë Brookshaw

Technical Director and Post Production Zen Grisdale Camera Operators Sophie Adams Ed Ault Edward Shaw Operations Assistants Henry Ashmall Nathanael Jordine Vision Mix Crispin Woodhead Audio Engineer Ben Connellan Music Producer Andrew Roberts Grip Adrian Bending

PROGRAMME NOTES Richard Bratby

SEELE, LERNE DICH ERKENNEN, TWV 1:1258 Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) Aria

Recitative

Aria

Telemann was a genius but (like many of the leading citizens of 18th century Hamburg) he was also an entrepreneur.

The life of a kantor (or music director) of a major church in baroque Germany was a busy one: rehearsing, performing (and when necessary, composing) a continual supply of fresh, appropriate music for each Sunday and feast-day of the liturgical year. Telemann realised that if he composed and published a year’s worth of short cantatas, he’d find an enthusiastic market among kantors desperate for ideas (or just a week off now and then).

And so in 1726 he published Der Harmonische Gottersdienst: a collection of 72 concise church cantatas – 12 months’ supply, ready to use off-the-peg. Each one used just a single singer, a solo instrumentalist and a continuo, making them performable (with a bit of imagination) in even the smallest churches. Unsurprisingly, it sold well. This is the cantata for Quinquagesima Sunday, and it sets a text by an unknown author (possibly Telemann’s regular collaborator Matthaeus Wilckens). “Soul, learn to know thyself” – the poet compares the human soul to a baby bird, learning to fly

human soul to a baby bird, learning to fly towards God, and a lively commentary from a solo flute or recorder reinforces the expressive vocal line.

SONATA FOR RECORDER IN C, TWV 41:C5 Adagio - Allegro Larghetto Vivace

I have nothing further to present other than to solicit from amateurs of music an opinion well-disposed toward me, as much with this as my other work, that I may remain, your most humble and obedient Telemann.

The dedication with which Telemann headed his anthology of chamber music Der getreue Musikmeister (1728-29) makes his intentions clear – he aimed to please. Telemann’s home city of Hamburg was filled with prosperous musical amateurs, and Telemann saw himself as craftsman, merchant, entertainer and tutor – producing collections of chamber music with which his fellow-burghers could hone their own skills, and delight family and friends.

There’s no such preface to the Essercizii Musici (1740), but by that stage, Telemann probably didn’t feel it was necessary. This collection contained two solo sonatas and two Trio Sonatas apiece for each of six different instruments – so whatever the instruments available when you gathered friends for a soirée, you’d find something enjoyable to play. And fashionable too: as a port city, Hamburg’s musical scene was cosmopolitan (it’s no coincidence that The Beatles made their name there). The brilliant display and songful emotion of this sonata for recorder (or flute) shows that Telemann was well abreast of the latest Italian trends.

TRIO SONATA FOR RECORDER AND HARPSICHORD IN B FLAT, TWV 42:B4 Dolce

Vivace

Siciliana Vivace

Telemann was a born musician. Writing in his autobiography, years later, he recalled that as a child in Magdeburg, even before the age of ten, it was little short of an obsession:

In the elementary schools I learned the usual things: reading, writing, catechism and some Latin; but then I eventually took up playing on my own the violin, flute and zither and entertained my friends with this music without even knowing anything about notes on a page.

Banished to a boarding school in the Harz mountains, the teenage Georg entertained local miners on his “flute”: the instrument that we know today as the recorder. Telemann considered himself a particular master of the Trio Sonata, in which two musical voices converse to the accompaniment of a third, the continuo (which could comprise several instruments – typically a harpsichord and a cello). In this example from his Essercizii Musici (1740), the cello supplies the continuo while the harpsichord participates in the musical conversation with the flute.

Telemann played both instruments, and he creates an elegant alternation of slow, expressive music (including a lilting Siciliana in the fashionable Italian style) and the kind of witty, brilliant musical conversation that 18th century musicians loved to perform, and audiences loved to hear.

AESOP'S FABLE The Kites and the Swans The Kites of old time had, equally with the swans, the privilege of song. But having heard the neigh of the horse, they were so enchanted with the sound, that they tried to imitate it; and, in trying to neigh, they forgot how to sing.

BEETHOVEN OCTET IN E FLAT

BACH ST JOHN PASSION

HANDEL MESSIAH

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

HANDEL APOLLO E DAFNE

BRAHMS VIOLIN CONCERTO

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TRANSLATION Estomihi ‘Seele, lerne dich erkennen' 1. Arie Seele, lerne dich erkennen!

2. Rezitativ Ein Vögelchen, dem noch die Glieder zu zart und weich,

A fledgling, whose limbs are still too tender and soft, erhebt umsonst sein zitterndes Gefieder, den Alten gleich,

Oh my soul, learn to know yourself,

in vain raises his quivering feathers to match his elders,

lauter Stückwerk ist zu nennen,

den höhern Kreis der Lüfte zu zerteilen,

what the human intellect can muster

to split the lofty realm of the air,

was der Menschen Witz vermag.

ob gleich der Wille da, den selben nach zu eilen.

counts no more than piecemeal.

Zur Vollkommenheit zu dringen To reach perfection

sind der ids’schen Klugheit Schwingen, the leaps of mortal wisdom viel zu schwach. are far too weak.

despite the desire to hasten after his own.

Nicht anders geht’s allhier mit unserm Witz und Wissen: It is no different with our knowledge and intellect:

die nimmer ruhende Begier ist nach dem Höhern stets beflissen;

the ever restless yearning constantly reaches upwards; der angebor’ne Stolz will auch die schwersten Sachen innate pride assumes even the heaviest things to be as

sich federleicht: ja, was unmöglich fällt, sich möglich machen. light as a feather: indeed, to make the impossible possible.

Da unserm Witz, wie unserm Leben,

For an earthly limit has been set by God

von Gott doch hier ein Ziel gestellt, das nicht zu überstreben. for our intellect as for our life, that is not to be overreached.

Es kennt die Welt nur einen Salomon, den Gott,

3. Arie So will ich dich mit Freuden küssen,

So I want to kiss you with joy,

The world knew but one Solomon,

du Herold der Vollkommenheit!

um dessen Thron die höchste Weisheit strahlt; den Weisesten genennet,

Du zeigst uns Gott in seinem Lichte,

around whose throne the greatest wisdom radiated and whom God named 'the wisest', der doch sein Schwachsein selbst bekennet.

and yet who acknowledged his own human frailty.

Ach ja, in dieser Zeit steigt das Erkenntnis nicht zu seiner Völligkeit.

Surely, in this life our knowledge cannot reach perfection.

Gott lässt uns durch das Sterben,

God only grants us a full reward in death, das uns zu nichts zu machen scheint, erst alles erben;

that seemingly reduces us to nothing; was dunkel war, wird dann ein heller Schein, what was dark, will then be a bright light, was Stückwerk hiess, wird ganz; was kindisch, männlich sein.

what was in part, will be whole; what was the child becomes the man.

O herald of perfection!

You reveal God in his glory,

von Angesicht zu Angesichte from face to face

und bringst uns ein vollkomm’nes Wissen,

and bring us a perfect knowledge, bei so vollkomm’ner Seligkeit. with such perfect bliss.

Crispin Woodhead

ZOË BROOKSHAW British soprano Zoë Brookshaw read Theology at Cambridge University where she was a choral Scholar at Trinity College. She was a member of the Monteverdi Choir Apprentice Scheme and is currently a Rising Star of the Enlightenment Her opera engagements include Euridice and La Musica L’Orfeo with I Fagiolini; Aerial Spirit: The Indian Queen with Le Concert d’Astrée / Emmanuelle Haïm, roles in The Fairy Queen with The Gabrieli Consort / Paul McCreesh and Rameau in Pygmalion with The Dunedin Consort / John Butt.

On the concert platform Zoë has sung Bach and Handel with the Monteverdi Choir / John Eliot Gardiner, Handel Israel in Egypt with at the BBC Proms with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment / William Christie plus Bach and Vivaldi with the group and Steven Devine as well as Monteverdi Ball dell’Ingrate with Christian Curnyn; Handel with the Gabrieli Consort / Paul McCreesh, Monteverdi and Vivaldi with Arcangelo / Jonathan Cohen, the St John Passion with the Britten Sinfonia/ Eamonn Dougan and Dixit Dominus with Collegium Vocale Gent / Pieter-Jan Belder. She is a member of the baroque ensemble Solmon’s Knot with whom she performs and records widely.

Zoë has recorded Bach, Blow, Lennox and Michael Berkeley, Charpentier, on the Delphian, Hyperion, Resonus, Signum Classics, Soli dei Gloria and Sony labels. Soon to be released on OAEPlayer is the video of Zoë singing Strozzi Che si puo fare.

Her reccent projects with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenement include Purcell and Blow in London and Oslo and Galatea in Handel's Aci, Galatea e Polifemo in London and Malta.

ABOUT THE OAE “Not all orchestras are the same” Over three decades ago, a group of inquisitive London musicians took a long hard look at that curious institution we call the Orchestra, and decided to start again from scratch. They began by throwing out the rulebook. Put a single conductor in charge? No way. Specialise in repertoire of a particular era? Too restricting.

Perfect a work and then move on? Too lazy. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment was born.

And as this distinctive ensemble playing on period-specific instruments began to get a foothold, it made a promise to itself. It vowed to keep questioning, adapting and inventing as long as it lived. Those original instruments became just one element of its quest for authenticity.

Baroque and Classical music became just one strand of its repertoire. Every time the musical establishment thought it had a handle on what the OAE was all about, the ensemble pulled out another shocker: a Symphonie Fantastique here, some conductor-less Bach there. All the while, the Orchestra’s players called the shots.

In some small way, the OAE changed the classical music world too. It challenged those distinguished partner organisations and brought the very best from them, too. Symphony and opera orchestras began to ask it for advice.

Existing period instrument groups started to vary their conductors and repertoire. New ones popped up all over Europe and America.

And so the story continues, with ever more momentum and vision. The OAE’s series of nocturnal Night Shift performances have redefined concert parameters. Its association at London’s Kings Place has fostered further diversity of planning and music-making. The ensemble has formed the bedrock for some of Glyndebourne’s most ground-breaking recent productions.

In keeping with its values of always questioning, challenging and trailblazing, in September 2020, the OAE became the resident orchestra of Acland Burghley School, Camden. The residency – a first for a British orchestra – allows the OAE to live, work and play amongst the students of the school.

Of the instrumentalists, many remain from those brave first days; many have come since. All seem as eager and hungry as ever. They’re offered ever greater respect, but continue only to question themselves. Because still, they pride themselves on sitting ever so slightly outside the box. They wouldn’t want it any other way. ©Andrew Mellor

OAE TEAM Chief Executive Crispin Woodhead Finance and Governance Director Pascale Nicholls Development Director Emily Stubbs

Operations Assistants Henry Ashmall Nathanael Jordine Orchestra Consultant Philippa Brownsword

Projects Director Jo Perry

Choir Manager David Clegg

Education Director Cherry Forbes

Librarian Roy Mowatt

Communications Director Doug Buist

Leaders Huw Daniel Kati Debretzeni Margaret Faultless Matthew Truscott

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Players’ Artistic Committee Adrian Bending Steven Devine Max Mandel Andrew Roberts Katharina Spreckelsen Principal Artists John Butt Sir Mark Elder Iván Fischer Vladimir Jurowski Sir Simon Rattle Sir András Schiff Emeritus Conductors William Christie Sir Roger Norrington

Life President Sir Martin Smith Board of Directors Imogen Overli [Chairman] Daniel Alexander Steven Devine Denys Firth Adrian Frost Max Mandel David Marks Rebecca Miller Andrew Roberts Katharina Spreckelsen Matthew Shorter Dr. Susan Tranter Crispin Woodhead OAE Trust Adrian Frost [Chairman] Mark Allen Paul Forman Steven Larcombe Alison McFadyen Imogen Overli Rupert Sebag-Montefiore Maarten Slendebroek Sir Martin Smith Caroline Steane Honorary Council Sir Victor Blank Edward Bonham Carter Cecelia Bruggemeyer Nigel Jones Stephen Levinson Marshall Marcus Julian Mash Greg Melgaard Susan Palmer OBE Jan Schlapp Diane Segalen Susannah Simons Lady Smith OBE Rosalyn Wilkinson Mark Williams

THANK YOU OAE Experience scheme Ann and Peter Law Corporate Partners Champagne Deutz Mark Allen Group Marquee TV Swan Turton Corporate Associates Gelato Season Patrons John Armitage Charitable Trust Julian and Annette Armstrong Denys and Vicki Firth Adrian Frost Nigel Jones and Françoise Valat-Jones Selina and David Marks Haakon and Imogen Overli Sir Martin and Lady Smith OBE Philip & Rosalyn Wilkinson Mark and Rosamund Williams Project Patrons Bruce Harris Ian S Ferguson CBE and Dr Susan Tranter Aria Patrons Madeleine Hodgkin Steven Larcombe Peter and Veronica Lofthouse Stanley Lowy Gary and Nina Moss Rupert Sebag-Montefiore Maarten and Taina Slendebroek Caroline Steane Eric Tomsett Chair Patrons Mrs Nicola Armitage - Education Director Victoria and Edward Bonham Carter - Principal Trumpet Katharine Campbell - Violin Anthony and Celia Edwards - Principal Oboe

James Flynn QC - Co-Principal Lute/Theorbo Jonathan and Tessa Gaisman – Viola Michael and Harriet Maunsell - Principal Keyboard Jenny and Tim Morrison - Second Violin Caroline Noblet – Oboe Professor Richard Portes - Principal Bassoon Christina – Flute John and Rosemary Shannon - Principal Horn Sue Sheridan OBE – Education Roger and Pam Stubbs - Clarinet Crispin Woodhead and Christine Rice - Principal Timpani Associate Patrons Charles and Julia Abel Smith Noël and Caroline Annesley Sir Richard Arnold and Mary Elford Hugh and Michelle Arthur David and Marilyn Clark Damaris Albarrán David Emmerson Jonathan Parker Charitable Trust Elisabeth Green in memory of June Mockett Roger Heath MBE and Alison Heath MBE Peter and Sally Hilliar Moira and Robert Latham Sir Timothy and Lady Lloyd Roger Mears and Joanie Speers Rebecca Miller David Mildon in memory of Lesley Mildon John Nickson and Simon Rew Andrew and Cindy Peck Stephen and Penny Pickles Peter Rosenthal Emily Stubbs and Stephen McCrum Shelley von Strunckel Mr J Westwood

Education Patrons Mrs Nicola Armitage Sir Victor Blank Stephen and Patricia Crew John and Sue Edwards Sir Timothy and Lady Lloyd Andrew and Cindy Peck Professor Richard Portes Sue Sheridan OBE Rising Stars Supporters Annette and Julian Armstrong Denys and Vicki Firth Bruce Harris Ms Madeleine Hodgkin Mrs Sarah Holford Nigel Jones and Francoise Valat-Jones Peter & Veronica Lofthouse Mr Andrew Nurnberg Old Possum's Practical Trust Imogen and Haakon Overli Gold Friends Michael Brecknell Gerard Cleary Mr and Mrs C Cochin de Billy Chris Gould Michael Spagat Silver Friends Dennis and Sheila Baldry Haylee and Michael Bowsher Tony Burt Christopher Campbell Mr and Mrs Michael Cooper David Cox Anthony and Jo Diamond Suzanne Doyle Rachel and Charles Henderson Malcolm Herring Patricia Herrmann Stephen Hodge Rupert and Alice King Alison and Ian Lowdon Anthony and Carol Rentoul Bridget Rosewell David and Ruth Samuels Leslie Scott Susannah Simons Victor Smart Her Honour Suzanne Stewart Simon and Karen Taube

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APPEAL DONORS We have been overwhelmed by the support of our audiences since the beginning of the pandemic. Many of you have generously helped us tackle this challenging time by donating to our Regeneration Appeal. We gratefully acknowledge those donors below Charles and Julia Abel Smith Mark and Sue Allen Deborah Anthony Julian and Annette Armstrong Hugh and Michelle Arthur John Birks Sir Victor Blank Bob and Elisabeth Boas A & FDW Boettcher William Bordass Mr Roger Bowerman Ms Susan Bracken Neil Brock Sir Anthony Cleaver

Professor Susan Cooper Ms Harriet Copperman Dr David Cox Gill Cox Stephen and Patricia Crew Mrs Melanie Edge Esmee Fairbairn Foundation Ms Margaret Faultless Denys and Vicki Firth Adrian Frost Jennifer Frost Jonathan N Gaisman, QC Dr David Glynn Roy Greenhalgh David Guthrie Martin Haddon Ray Harsant Roger Heath MBE and Alison Heath MBE Peter and Sally Hilliar Nigel Jones and Françoise Valat-Jones Jerome Karter Sue Lamble Steven Larcombe Sir Timothy Lloyd and Lady Lloyd Dr Alan Lord Stanley Lowy, MBE Ellie Makri Michael and Harriet Maunsell Tim and Jenny Morrison Mr Clive Murgatroyd, MBE Robert Nash John Nickson & Simon Rew Andrew Nurnberg Johanna Nusselein Imogen and Haakon Overli Andrew and Cindy Peck Mike Raggett Ruth and David Samuels Laura Sheldon Sue Sheridan OBE Maarten and Taina Slendebroek Sir Martin Smith and Lady Smith OBE Michael Spagat Caroline Steane Para Sun Iain Taylor Christopher Tew Lady Marina Vaizey, CBE Eva Maria Valero Mark and Rosamund Williams Peter Williams

WE MOVED INTO A SCHOOL A little over a year ago we took up permanent residence at Acland Burghley School in Camden, North London. The residency – a first for a British orchestra – allows us to live, work and play amongst the students of the school.

Three offices have been adapted for our administration team, alongside a recording studio and library.

We use the Grade II listed school assembly hall as a rehearsal space, with plans to refurbish it under the school’s ‘A Theatre for All’ project. The school isn't just our landlord or physical home. Instead, it allows us to build on twenty years of work in the borough through OAE’s long-standing partnership with Camden Music. Having already worked in eighteen of the local primary schools that feed into ABS, the plans moving forward are to support music and arts across the school into the wider community. Our move underpins our core ‘enlightenment’ mission of reaching as wide an audience as possible.

A similar project was undertaken in 2015 in Bremen, Germany. The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie moved into a local comprehensive school in a deprived area and the results were described as “transformational”, with improved academic performance, language skills, mental health and IQ scores; reputational benefits; greater interest in and engagement with music among pupils; strengthened links between school, orchestra and community; and even, according to some of the musicians who took part, an improvement in the Kammerphilharmonie’s playing.

Margaret Faultless, OAE leader and violinist, said: “The members of the Bremen Kammerphilharmonie said their experience actually improved them as an orchestra and I think the same will happen to us over the next five or so years, and it will remind all of us of the reasons we make music, which are sometimes easy to forget, especially in our strange and troubled times.” Continues Margaret: “I am certainly looking forward to learning from the young people at Acland Burghley and in turn introducing them to the joys of our music and music-making.”

The move has been made possible with a leadership grant of £120,000 from The Linbury Trust, one of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts.

OAE EDUCATION A PROGRAMME TO INVOLVE, EMPOWER AND INSPIRE Over the past twenty years OAE Education has grown in stature and reach to involve thousands of people nationwide in creative music projects. Our participants come from a wide range of backgrounds and we pride ourselves in working flexibly, adapting to the needs of local people and the places they live.

The extensive partnerships we have built up over many years help us engage fully with all the communities where we work to ensure maximum and lasting impact.

We take inspiration from the OAE's repertoire, instruments and players.

This makes for a vibrant, challenging and engaging programme where everyone is involved; players, animateurs, composers, participants, teachers, partners and stakeholders all have a valued voice.

SUPPORT OUR EDUCATION PROGRAMME The work we do could not happen without the support of our generous donors.

If you would like to support our education programme please contact Emily Stubbs, Development Director emily.stubbs@oae.co.uk

We are grateful to Jenny and Tim and our friends at St Jude’s Churc

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Registered company number 2040312.

Acland Burghley School, 93 Burghley Road, London NW5 1UH 0208 159 9310 | info@oae.co.uk