GEORG PHILIPP TELEMANN (1681-1767)
Fantasia No. 1 in B flat major (violin)
Largo - Allegro - Grave - Allegro
Played with extended techniques, adapted by Aisha Orazbayeva
Thessaloniki Concert Hall, 7 June 2016
1735 - outbreak of the Russo-Turkish war in Crimea, Handel’s Ariodante premieres at Covent Garden, and one of the most prolific composers in history, Georg Philip Telemann, publishes his 12 Fantasias for Solo Violin (67 years before Bach’s acclaimed solo violin cycle). Many of Telemann’s publications from this period are believed to have been driven by his need of money, as his gambling wife was leading to the composer’s bankruptcy. Fantasia No 1 in B flat major is a gentle first entry of the cycle, with very unusual phrasings and polyphonic inflections. Dynamics and ornamentations are of course left open to the player - no wrong decisions can be made. Telemann plays around with the range of the instrument, bringing out the best of its polyphonic qualities with sweeping changes between high and low, like from heavens to earth.