PROGRAM NOTES Concert 1 in D Major, TWV 42:D6
Georg Philipp Telemann
Telemann was one of the most prolific composers of all time, having written more than 3000 works—sacred, vocal, dramatic, orchestral, small ensemble, and solo—many of which are lost. During his lifetime and into the latter half of the 18th century he was famous, successfully, and highly regarded by his contemporaries. He pursued exclusive publication rights for his works, and orders for his music came from all over Europe. He was a friend of JS Bach and Handel and was godfather to Bach’s son Carl Philipp Emanuel. His list of accomplishments is long and varied. Among Telemann’s vast output we find a set of six Concerts for harpsichord and transverse flute (1734). These pieces are remarkable not only for their contemporary musical style. Also interesting is that their notation differs from most other works of the time for solo instrument and harpsichord, in that the harpsichord part is obbligato—written out. Normally the music the harpsichordist sees written (along with the soloist’s part) is a bass line and figured bass, from which the harpsichordist improvises an accompaniment. Other composers at the time who wrote an obbligato harpsichord part for the harpsichord were few—JS Bach, Rameau, and Boismortier. The obbligato part for keyboard is just beginning to come into practice. Today we bring you Concert 1 in D Major. Flute Thing for flute and tape operator (1970)
Larry Nelson
Flute Thing (1970) is scored for solo flute and tape operator, but it creates the illusion of performance by a choir of flutes. The 1970 version used different tape decks to record and play back material played moments earlier, the tape operator controls online the accompaniment to the live flute, piling line over line so as to create canonic and harmonic textures. The 2025 strategy is the same but a computer is programmed to follow the score and to record/playback the flute lines and therefore has replaced the tape decks. "The work opens with long sustained notes in the low register and, through the mixing of flute and recording, gradually builds until silence interrupts. The flute and tape proceed to build again, this time with fast, chattering note-groups that end with the flute alone sustaining a low D-flat. Then the flute repeats a three-note group, D-flat, A-flat, C-flat, ten to fifteen times, allowing the tape system to create a static sonority against which the flute later plays a solo. This is followed by a strict canon between flute and tape (the only metered portion of the score). "After a different static sonority is generated, there is an unaccompanied flute cadenza. When the tape re-starts, it records a group of running notes followed by one sustained note. This figure is alternated with its retrograde form through several repetitions, creating a background for the flute's next series of pointillistic pitches. The piece fades to a close with a return of the first static sonority, D-flat, A-flat, C-flat.” LN