Telemann Studies Wolfgang Hirschmann and Steven Zohn, eds Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022 pp. xxxii + 344, ISBN 978 1 108 49383 3

Abstract

When Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767) applied for, and subsequently turned down, the vacant post of Thomaskantor in Leipzig, in 1722, he probably did not expect a major English-language publication bearing his last name to grace (real and virtual) bookshelves three centuries later. Telemann Studies is a ground-breaking work that comprises important contributions by sixteen scholars based in Germany, the USA and Japan. They met at Temple University in October 2017 to mark the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Telemann’s death and ponder the topic ‘Georg Philipp Telemann: Enlightenment and Postmodern Perspectives’. That it took almost five years for these exemplary conference proceedings to appear in print was no surprise to this reviewer. After all, its editors, Wolfgang Hirschmann (Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg) and Steven Zohn (Temple University), are not only the two leading Telemann scholars in their respective native languages, but are also known for their high scholarly standards. For them to collaborate is a stroke of luck as far as global Telemann research is concerned. According to its back cover, this book – which is divided into five parts – attempts to remedy the limited availability of English-language literature on Telemann by examining specific aspects of his life, music and legacy. To that end, the editors provide an unusually lengthy Preface. It begins with a superb overview of how (German) Telemann scholarship developed over the course of the twentieth century; this part of the preface would have made a wonderful separate introductory chapter. Comprehensive summaries of each chapter follow, with the editors taking great pains to explain the authors’ methodological approaches and highlight research findings. This ‘representative cross-section of Telemann studies in the early twenty-first century’ (xxii) is a must-read for anyone who wants to know more about the most influential German composer of the first half of the eighteenth century. To that end, Zohn has skillfully translated chapters written by German scholars Carsten Lange, Nina Eichholz and Ralph-Jürgen Reipsch into English. ‘Enlightenment perspectives’ are explored in part 1. First, Zohn outlines the different ways in which Telemann handled the musical past in two of his Frankfurt cantatas, Sehet an die Exempel der Alten (TVWV1:1259) and Erhöre mich, wenn ich rufe (TVWV1:459). Hirschmann then shifts to the composer’s French pastoral dramas and scrutinizes his little-known (and uncatalogued) Pastorelle en musique from 1714. Telemann’s commentary on the ‘Augenorgel’, or ‘harpsichord for the eye’, is the focus of Joyce Z. Lindorff’s chapter; she draws attention to the eight translations that appeared between 1739 and 1757 in French, Latin and German. In part 2, ‘Urban and Courtly Contexts’, Carsten Lange painstakingly examines Telemann’s connection to the city of Lüneburg, specifically to the local pastor and theologian Roger Brown, who copied some of Telemann’s works. Attention to detail also shines through in Daniel R. Melamed’s informative essay that follows. He contextualizes Lutheran Passion settings that were in use prior to Telemann’s arrival in Hamburg, in 1721, and includes no fewer than eleven