Georg Philipp Telemann

Georg Philipp Telemann

Georg Philipp Telemann was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hildesheim, Telemann entered the University of Leipzig to study law, but eventually...

's 12 Fantasias for Solo Violin was published in Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

 in 1735. It is one of Telemann's collections of music for unaccompanied instruments, the others being twelve fantasias for solo flute

12 Fantasias for solo flute (Telemann)

Georg Philipp Telemann's 12 Fantasias for Solo Flute were published in Hamburg in 1732–33. This is one of Telemann's collections of music for unaccompanied instruments, the others being thirty-six fantasias for solo harpsichord published in Hamburg in 1732–33, twelve for solo violin...

 and thirty-six for solo harpsichord that were published in Hamburg in 1732–33, as well as a set of twelve fantasias for solo viola da gamba that was published in the same city in 1735, but is now lost.

This collection consists of the following works:

1. Fantasia in B-flat major (Largo—Allegro—Grave—Si replica l'allegro)
2. Fantasia in G major (Largo—Allegro—Allegro)
3. Fantasia in F minor (Adagio—Presto—Grave—Vivace)
4. Fantasia in D major (Vivace—Grave—Allegro)
5. Fantasia in A major (Allegro—Presto—Allegro—Andante—Allegro)
6. Fantasia in E minor (Grave—Presto—Siciliana—Allegro)
7. Fantasia in E-flat major (Dolce—Allegro—Largo—Presto)
8. Fantasia in E major (Piacevolumente—Spirituoso—Allegro)
9. Fantasia in B minor (Siciliana—Vivace—Allegro)
10. Fantasia in D major (Presto—Largo—Allegro)
11. Fantasia in F major (Un poco vivace—Soave—Da capo un poco vivace—Allegro)
12. Fantasia in A minor (Moderato—Vivace—Presto)

This scheme does not resemble that of the twelve flute fantasies, which progress in a roughly stepwise direction from A major to G minor. However, some overall structure seems to be implied: the first movement of Fantasia 7 subtly references the opening of the first fantasia in the collection, indicating that Telemann possibly conceived this work as two groups of 6 fantasias. He has, indeed, described the collection as "12 fantasias [...] of which 6 include fugues and 6 are Galanterien," with "fugues" referencing the contrapuntal

Counterpoint

In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...

 style of certain fantasias.

Telemann's violin fantasias exhibit mastery of not only compound melodic lines, but also of idiomatic writing for violin, as Telemann himself was a self-taught violinist. Much of the music reveals the influence of Italian sonatas and concertos, but the typical tendency of German solo violin music to rely on polyphony

Polyphony

In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....

 is still present: fantasias 2, 3, 5, 6, and 10 all include fugues and employ much double-stopping.