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February 2006 Program Notes
Tafelmusik III Quiz Answers
by Mary Burke
For the completion of the Musique de Table cycle, I thought I would do a quiz rather than traditional notes. This is just a small excerpt from my planned Telemann Overachievement Quiz, which may be finished in time for his 350th anniversary in 2031. See the questions >
1. St. Cecilia's Day. Go figure.
2. Flute, oboe, violin, cello, and recorder. Not to mention keyboard, zither, chalumeau, gamba, contrabass, bass trombone, and calchedon (a plucked string instrument). And he sang baritone. The original score of the third production, incidentally, specifies two trombe selvatiche, a sort of coiled trumpet; the parts work equally well on the more familiar (and more readily available) horn.
3. D. Bach did, however, subscribe to the Nouveaux Quatuors that Telemann published in 1738, also known as the Paris Quartets.
4. C. Apparently the post of Stadtkantor of Hamburg, along with directing the Gänsemarktoper, and taking commissions, and writing poetry, and self-publishing several cubic meters of music (which he also engraved and marketed), failed to keep him quite busy enough. On the side, he worked for five years as a corresponding agent to the court at Eisenach, where he had previously held the post of Kapellmeister to Duke Johann Wilhelm of Saxe-Eisenach. His job was to collect news from correspondents based in Paris, London, Moscow, Berlin, and other northern European cities, as well as from his own acquaintances among the ambassadors based in Hamburg, and pass it along to Eisenach.
5. True. The collection was a fairly expensive item, and between the numerous advance subscriptions and subsequent purchases (priced even higher), Telemann made quite a tidy little packet. Since he published it himself, he also got to keep most of the profits.
Bonus Question A. C. She ultimately ran off with a Swedish officer, leaving Telemann to pay off her enormous debts. However, his friends and colleagues took up a collection to help him out.
6. True. Telemann had written innumerable orchestral suites during his days at the court of Count Erdmann II of Promnitz in Sorau (known today as Zary, Poland), some of which found their way into this collection.
Bonus Question B. True. Telemann probably didn't mind, however, as he and Handel were friends. Both were also amateur horticulturists in their copious free time, and Handel is known to have sent Telemann rare plants for his collection.
7. False, surprisingly enough. Although Telemann did do quite a lot of his own engraving, he left this project in the hands of specialists, presumably because it was being marketed as a luxury item and needed to look superb (which it does). However, he did supervise the engraving, which was being done with a new process involving pewter plates rather than the traditional copper. This process originated in London and was introduced in Germany by—wait for it—Telemann.
8. D. Though he should by rights have collapsed by the age of 30,Telemann enjoyed generally good health for most of his life and survived well into his eighties with only minor creakiness and vision impairment.
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