A turning point for Telemann scholarship?

Abstract

While scholarship on Georg Philipp Telemann has steadily gained momentum in Germany since the ‘Telemann renaissance’ of the early 1900s, Anglophone research into this most prolific of composers has, until recently, remained the purview of a small handful of scholars. Still, I was surprised to read, in the preface of Telemann studies, that the first English-language conference dedicated to the life and music of Telemann did not take place until the 250th anniversary of the composer’s death. And it was at this conference, entitled ‘Georg Philipp Telemann: Enlightenment and Postmodern Perspectives’ (hosted by Temple University, Philadelphia in 2017) that the present volume began life. Fittingly, given its important status as the first English-language essay collection on Telemann, Telemann studies goes well beyond what might be expected from a book of conference proceedings (valuable as these can be) in terms of overall polish and coherence. Its 16 chapters (contributed not only by Telemann specialists, but also by leading scholars best known for research into C. P. E. and J. S. Bach) have been grouped by editors Wolfgang Hirschmann and Steven Zohn into five parts: ‘Enlightenment Perspectives’, ‘Urban and Courtly Contexts’, ‘Nature (and) Theology in the Late Vocal Works’, ‘Bach Family Connections’ and ‘Cantata Cycles in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Beyond’.