Editing Georg Philipp Telemann (section)

==Life==
===Early life (1681–1712)===
[[Image:Stadtansicht vor 1720 019.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Magdeburg, Telemann's birthplace, in the early 18th century. Some 50&nbsp;years before Telemann's birth the city was [[Sack of Magdeburg|sacked]] and had to be rebuilt.]]

Telemann was born in [[Magdeburg]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Einstein |first=Alfred |author-link=Alfred Einstein |url= |title=Telemann, Georg Philipp |encyclopedia=Hugo Riemanns Musik-Lexikon |date=1929 |publisher= |location= |language=de}}</ref> then the capital of the semi-autonomous [[Duchy of Magdeburg]] within the [[Electorate of Brandenburg]], in the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. His father Heinrich, [[deacon]] at the {{interlanguage link|Heilig-Geist-Kirche (Magdeburg)|de}}, died when Telemann was four.<ref name="Hirschmann" /> The future composer received his first music lessons at 10, from a local organist, and became immensely interested in music in general, and composition in particular. Despite opposition from his mother and relatives, who forbade any musical activities, Telemann found it possible to study and composed in secret, even creating an opera at the age of 12.<ref>As Telemann claimed in his autobiography provided to and printed by Johann Mattheson (1681–1764) in the latter's ''Grundlage einer Ehren-Pforte'' (1740), p. 355: "... Ich eine ertappte hamburger Oper, Sigismundus, etwa im zwölfften Jahr meines Alters, in die Musik seßte, welche auch auf einer errichteten Bühne toll genug abegefungen wurde, und wohen ich selbst meinen Held ziemlich troßig vorstellte." [... About my twelfth year of age I took hold of a Hamburg opera, Sigismund, [and] set it to music, which was performed well enough on a home-made stage, and where I personally presented my hero pretty defiantly.]</ref>

In 1697, after studies at the Domschule in Magdeburg and at a school in [[Zellerfeld]], Telemann was sent to the famous Gymnasium Andreanum at [[Hildesheim]],<ref name="Hirschmann" /> where his musical talent flourished, supported by school authorities, including the rector himself. Telemann was becoming equally adept both at composing and performing, teaching himself flute, oboe, violin, viola da gamba, recorder, double bass, and other instruments.<ref name="Bergmann" /> In 1701 he graduated from the Gymnasium and went to Leipzig to become a student at the [[Leipzig University]], where he intended to study law.<ref name="Bergmann" /> He ended up becoming a professional musician, regularly composing works for the [[St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig|Nikolaikirche]] and even St. Thomas ([[Thomaskirche]]).<ref name="Bergmann" /> In 1702 he became director of the municipal opera house ''Opernhaus auf dem Brühl'', and later music director at the Neukirche. Prodigiously productive, Telemann supplied a wealth of new music for Leipzig, including several operas, one of which was his first major opera, ''[[Germanicus (opera)|Germanicus]]''. However, he became engaged in a conflict with the cantor of the Thomaskirche, [[Johann Kuhnau]]. The conflict intensified when Telemann started employing numerous students for his projects, including those who were Kuhnau's, from the Thomasschule.<ref>Spitta, Phillip, Johann Sebastian Bach (publ 1873–1880) translated from the German (1884–1899) by Clara Bell and J.A. Fuller-Maitland, Dover 1951 (republished 1959, 1992, 2015), Vol II, pp. 204–207: "The direct connection between opera and sacred music which thus took form in the person of Telemann at once exerted its baleful influence... Kuhnau represented that the tendencies of the 'Operists' ... were destroying all feeling for true church music..."

Spitta, ibid. Appendix B VII (actually B IV, p. 303): "... [In] Memorials of Kuhnau's, addressed to the Town Council and to the University on ... March 17, 1709... [Kuhlau] appeals to ... consider certain points... 8 & 9 refer to the numbers of the choir, and 10 complains again of the increasing influence of the opera; this, he says, causes the greatest mischief, for the better students, as soon as they have acquired... sufficient practice, long to find themselves among the Operisten"</ref>

Telemann left Leipzig in 1705 at the age of 24, after receiving an invitation to become ''[[Kapellmeister]]'' for the court of Count [[Erdmann II of Promnitz]] at Sorau (now [[Żary]], [[Poland]]). His career there was cut short in early 1706 by the hostilities of the [[Great Northern War]], and after a short period of travels he entered the service of [[John William III, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach|Duke Johann Wilhelm]], in [[Eisenach]] where Johann Sebastian Bach was born.<ref name="Bergmann" /> He became ''Konzertmeister'' on 24 December 1708 and Secretary and ''Kapellmeister'' in August 1709. During his tenure at Eisenach, Telemann wrote a great deal of music: at least four annual cycles of church cantatas, dozens of sonatas and concertos, and other works. In 1709, he married Amalie Louise Juliane Eberlin, lady-in-waiting to the Countess of Promnitz and daughter of the musician [[Daniel Eberlin]].<ref name="Hirschmann" /> Their daughter was born in January 1711. The mother died soon afterwards, leaving Telemann depressed and distraught.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Romain Rolland's Essays on Music|last=Rolland|first=Romain|date=2017|publisher=Allen, Towne & Heath|isbn=978-1-4437-3093-8|page=109|language=en}}</ref>

===Frankfurt (1712–1721)===
After around a year he sought another position, and moved to [[Frankfurt]] on 18 March 1712 at the age of 31, to become city music director and ''Kapellmeister'' at the {{ill|Barfüßerkirche (Frankfurt)|lt=Barfüßerkirche |de| Barfüßerkloster (Frankfurt am Main)}}<ref name="Hirschmann" /> and [[St. Catherine's Church, Frankfurt|St. Catherine's Church]].<ref name="Bergmann" /> In Frankfurt, he fully gained his mature personal style. Here, as in Leipzig, he was a powerful force in the city's musical life, creating music for two major churches, civic ceremonies, and various ensembles and musicians. By 1720 he had adopted the use of the [[da capo aria]], which had been adopted by composers such as [[Alessandro Scarlatti]]. Operas such as ''[[Amor d'un'ombra e gelosia d'un'aura|Narciso]]'', which was brought to Frankfurt in 1719, written in the Italian idiom of composition, made a mark on Telemann's output.<ref name="baroquemusic.org">{{cite web|title=Baroque Composers and musicians|url=http://www.baroquemusic.org/bqxtel.html|website=Baroquemusic.org|access-date=12 February 2016|year=2013}}</ref>

On 28 August 1714, three years after his first wife had died, Telemann married again, Maria Catharina Textor, daughter of a Frankfurt council clerk.<ref name="Hirschmann" /> They eventually had nine children. This was a source of much personal happiness, and helped him produce compositions. Telemann continued to be extraordinarily productive and successful, even augmenting his income by working for Eisenach employers as a ''[[Kapellmeister]]'' ''von Haus aus'', that is, regularly sending new music while not actually living in Eisenach. Telemann's first published works also appeared during the Frankfurt period. His output increased rapidly, for he fervently composed overture-suites and chamber music, most of which is unappreciated.<ref name="baroquemusic.org"/> These works included his 6 Sonatas for solo violin, known as the ''Frankfurt Sonatas'', published in 1715. In the latter half of the Frankfurt period, he composed an innovative work, his [[Viola Concerto]] in G major, which is twice the length of his violin concertos.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.classicalarchives.com/work/28811.html#tvf=tracks&tv=about|website=Classical Archives|access-date=3 April 2016|title=Georg Philipp Telemann – Viola Concerto in G, TWV51:G9}}</ref> Also, here he composed his first choral masterpiece, his ''[[Brockes Passion]]'', in 1716.

===Hamburg (1721–1767)===
Telemann accepted the invitation to work in [[Hamburg]] as ''Kantor'' of the [[Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums|Johanneum]] [[Lateinschule]], and music director of the five largest churches in 1721.<ref name="Bergmann" /> Soon after arrival, Telemann encountered some opposition from church officials who found his secular music and activities to be too much of a distraction for both Telemann himself and the townsfolk. The next year, when [[Johann Kuhnau]] died and the city of Leipzig was looking for a new ''[[Thomaskantor]]'', Telemann applied for the job and was approved, yet declined after Hamburg authorities agreed to give him a suitable raise. After another candidate, [[Christoph Graupner]], declined, the post went to Johann Sebastian Bach.<ref name="Bergmann" />

[[File:Georg Philipp Telemann by Georg Lichtensteger.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Telemann {{Circa|1745}}, engraving by Georg Lichtensteger]]
Telemann took a few small trips outside Germany at this time. However, later in the Hamburg period he travelled to Paris and stayed for eight months, 1737 into 1738. He heard and was impressed by ''[[Castor et Pollux]]'', an opera by French composer [[Jean-Philippe Rameau]]. From then on, he incorporated the French operatic style into his vocal works. Before then, his influence was primarily Italian and German.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wollny|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Wollny|title=Notes on Telemann's St. Matthew Passion|date=1994|publisher=hannsler classic|pages=12–15}}</ref> Apart from that, Telemann remained in Hamburg for the rest of his life. A vocal masterpiece of this period is his ''St Luke Passion'' from 1728, which is a prime example of his fully matured vocal style.

His first years there were plagued by marital troubles: his wife's infidelity, and her gambling debts, which amounted to a sum larger than Telemann's annual income. The composer was saved from bankruptcy by the efforts of his friends, and by the numerous successful music and poetry publications Telemann made during the years 1725 to 1740. By 1736 husband and wife were no longer living together because of their financial disagreements. Although still active and fulfilling the many duties of his job, Telemann became less productive in the 1740s, when he was in his 60s. He took up theoretical studies, as well as hobbies such as gardening and cultivating exotic plants, something of a fad in Hamburg at that time, and a hobby shared by Handel.
Most of the music of the 1750s appears to have been parodied from earlier works. Telemann's eldest son Andreas died in 1755, and Andreas' son [[Georg Michael Telemann]] was raised by the aging composer. Troubled by health problems and failing eyesight in his last years, Telemann was still composing into the 1760s. He died on the evening of 25 June 1767 from what was recorded at the time as a "chest ailment." He was succeeded at his Hamburg post by his godson, Johann Sebastian Bach's second son [[Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach]].