Telemann and his godson C.P.E. Bach had a lot in common: both studied law before pursuing music, both became key links between late-Baroque and early-Classical styles, and both composed prolifically—Telemann’s output is measured in the thousands. Alongside the reams of sacred music, instrumental suites, operas, and concerti, Telemann also wrote sets of unaccompanied instrumental fantasias, for violin, viola da gamba, harpsichord and flute. 

The second Fantasia of this set of twelve has four sections (Grave, Vivace, Adagio, and Allegro), with tempo changes aligning with changes of mood or character. This Fantasia in particular is a fantastic example of Telemann’s mastery of counterpoint, managing to keep multiple lines of melody spinning concurrently through regular changes of register. 

Hugh Morris 2024

Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764) published his first collection of harpsichord pieces in 1706 and further collections appeared in the 1720s. Though widely admired at the time, these works lapsed into obscurity and it took their rediscovery at the end of the nineteenth century, when a handsome edition, prepared by Camille Saint-Saëns, was published by Durand in 1895. Rameau’s collections mostly comprise dance movements, such as the two Rigaudons and ‘Double’ from the 1724 volume of Pièces de clavecin. This was also the source of one of his most celebrated imitative pieces, Le rappel des oiseaux with its evocations of chirruping birdsong, and of Les tendres plaintes, a more subtle evocation of melancholy.  

Nigel Simeone

Le Merle Noir – The Blackbird – was composed in March 1952 as the test piece for the flute class at the Paris Conservatoire. Messiaen took the opportunity to make an important stylistic departure in this work: it was the first of his pieces to attempt a detailed depiction of a specific named bird. The first performances – in June 1952 – were given at the flute concours by the most promising members of Gaston Crunelle’s flute class that year. One of them was the British flautist Alexander Murray, who shared his memories of the piece in with the present writer:

“We saw it for the first time four weeks before the concours and then dissected it four times a week with Gaston Crunelle … Noël Lee, a pupil of Nadia Boulanger, was our accompanist, and was present daily for the last week. He had analysed the last section and demonstrated the rhythmic permutations – which did not make life easier. However, his utter reliability made memorising less of a problem. We all played from memory. … I was awarded a premier prix (I think the first British student to be so lucky). Messiaen was present in class at least once, as I remember, and of course at the concours.”

Nigel Simeone © 2012

Allegretto poco moderato
Adagio
Allegretto  

Martinů composed this sonata in less than two weeks, between 4 and 16 May 1937 while he was living in Paris. The work is dedicated to Blanche Honegger, a violinist who studied with Adolf Busch and who later married the pianist Louis Moyse. With his father, the flautist Marcel Moyse, they gave the first performance  of Martinů’s sonata on French Radio on 1 July 1937. (Blanche Honegger Moyse later moved to the United States and became a much-admired conductor. She died in 2011 at the age of 101). Martinů had moved to Paris in the 1920s and he completed his studies there with Albert Roussel. With his homeland under threat from Nazi invasion, this sonata has musical characteristics that reflect a love of his homeland including stylised polka rhythms and turns of phrase typical of Moravian folk music. When German forces occupied Paris, Martinů fled to the United States where he lived until 1953. Shortly after emigrating, he was asked by the New York Herald Tribune about his most important musical influences and he listed Bohemian and Moravian folk music, the English madrigal and the music of Debussy. Elements of all these can be heard in this three-movement work