Hélène Houzel - Telemann: 12 Fantasias for Violin without Bass (2021) [Official Digital Download 24/88]

In the midst of this hectic activity in Hamburg, Telemann published in 1735 the Twelve Fantasias for Violin without Bass. The volume — a genuine synthesis of the master’s knowledge — offers a remarkable stylistic variety, exhibiting his perfect knowledge of the musical genres of the early 18th century. The Fantasias, moreover, are particular in that they are written for solo violin, something rare in baroque music, which almost always contained a continuo part.

Telemann was perhaps seduced by the solitary nature of the Suites for solo cello and the Sonatas and partitas for solo violin of his friend, J.S. Bach, and so decided to experiment with the genre himself. By omitting the basso continuo, the difficulty of writing for an instrument which can only emit a single sound at a time (or two as in the case of double strings) lies in the creation of a harmonic structure necessary to express the melody.

Telemann, an accomplished violinist, knew his instrument intimately. It explains how he managed to give the instrument such a full sound to the point that all accompaniment becomes superfluous. To achieve this, the violin simulates various musical partis according to the ancient technique called “luthé.” This technique, derived from the lute, consists of “breaking” the melody by making it alternate in different registers.

In the Seventh Fantasia, for example, three low notes interrupt the melody in the high register. The difference in sonority obtained both by the changes of string and the height of pitch thus suggests the intervention of numerous instrumental parts. Another frequently used violin technique is that of “double strings,” that is to say two strings played at the same time. Ocassionally however, as in the case of the Allegro from the Second Fantasia, the score calls for three notes to be played simultaneously, which is technically impossible (even though baroque period instruments had less convex bridges than today’s, they still do not allow three notes to be played simultaneously). In writing in such a manner, the composer wishes the instrumentalist to evoke the simultaneous nature of the sounds by playing the chords in arpeggio or by cutting short the value of certain notes so as to ensure the continuity of the principal melody.

Telemann thus uses a “latent” polyphony, leaving to the listener the task of reconstituting the voice-leading that the violin cannot create. This method of evoking these effects became popular in the baroque period. Karl Geiringer, using it as an analogy, wrote that in those days, “the walls of houses were decorated with paintings that simulated the perspectives of vast colonnades and well-ordered gardens.

These embellishments require an inner vision, just as polyphony and its implied harmonic texture require the collaboration of an inner ear.” During the years the Fantasias for Violin were composed, rigorous counterpoint was falling out of favor, and was giving way to a pre-eminence of the melodic line. It explains why the numerous imitation pieces in this volume reveal a rather free counterpoint. In the first movement of the Fifth Fantasia, the alternating Allegro and Presto well illustrate the coexistence of old and new tendencies, as virtuoso elements alternate with fugue passages.

Telemann — typical example of baroque musical cosmopolitanism — enjoyed drawing from the vast array of stylistic genres available to him. Thus, fascinated by the court composers of Louis XIV, he began his twelth Fantasia with a French overture, easily recognizable by its pointed and incisive rhythm. In the same manner he makes his Fourth Fantasia a veritable Italian concerto, with a first movement characterised by a firm rhythm, a Grave reduced to an interlude and a final gracious Allegro in triple time. In the same vein, the Sixth Fantasia structurally resembles an Italian church sonata, in the manner of Corelli, with a succession of movements following the slow-fast-slow-fast outline, in which the second movement is, as it should be, a fugue. A unique feature of the last movement is the audacious opposition of the major and minor modes, in E, which anticipates the classical style.

The evolution towards classicism is also demonstrated in the structural organization of the instrumental suites. Although the general structure of a suite is based upon the alternation of stylized dances, the structure of each of the pieces is regulated by a binary form, that is to say by a division in two parts demarcated by repeats.

A great many pieces in the Twelve Fantasias are precisely written in binary form, the principle of repeats and the division into two distinct sections assuring a great clarity in the development of ideas. Occasionally, as in the Ninth Fantasia for example, each movement utilizes, in the manner of a suite, a dance rhythm: a sicilienne, a bourée and a gigue. Due to the pre-eminence of the melodic line, to the clarity of its structures and its expressive charm, the Twelve Fantasias for Violin without Bass by Telemann are in the spirit of the galant style. Conversely the search for polyphony and the imitation of national styles bear witness to a certain attachment to the language of the baroque.

The Twelve Fantasias therefore should be seen as a pivotal work, representative of the musical transition that took place during the composer’s life. Telemann, who created such a colossal opus, was a major contributor to the changing musical language of 18th century Europe. His ease of invention and execution in part explains his spontaneous and flowing style, which opposed the ebbing complexity of the baroque, and doubtless explains the immense popularity he enjoyed during his lifetime.

Considered the foremost musician of his time, he even eclipsed Johann-Sebastian Bach, whose genius, though masterful, was too closely linked to a past art. In searching to unite all genres, Telemann contributed to the advent of an international style and so permitted the evolution of music towards classicism.

Tracklist:
1. Fantasia No. 1 in B-Flat Major, TWV 40:14: I. Largo (02:29)
2. Fantasia No. 1 in B-Flat Major, TWV 40:14: II. Allegro (01:50)
3. Fantasia No. 1 in B-Flat Major, TWV 40:14: III. Grave (01:19)
4. Fantasia No. 1 in B-Flat Major, TWV 40:14: IV. Allegro (01:56)
5. Fantasia No. 2 in G Major, TWV 40:15: I. Largo (01:53)
6. Fantasia No. 2 in G Major, TWV 40:15: II. Allegro (02:19)
7. Fantasia No. 2 in G Major, TWV 40:15: III. Allegro (00:43)
8. Fantasia No. 3 in F Minor, TWV 40:16: I. Adagio (01:58)
9. Fantasia No. 3 in F Minor, TWV 40:16: II. Presto - Grave (02:01)
10. Fantasia No. 3 in F Minor, TWV 40:16: III. Vivace (01:00)
11. Fantasia No. 4 in D Major, TWV 40:17: I. Vivace (01:47)
12. Fantasia No. 4 in D Major, TWV 40:17: II. Grave (00:51)
13. Fantasia No. 4 in D Major, TWV 40:17: III. Allegro (02:19)
14. Fantasia No. 5 in A Major, TWV 40:18: I. Allegro - Presto - Allegro - Presto (02:14)
15. Fantasia No. 5 in A Major, TWV 40:18: II. Andante (00:44)
16. Fantasia No. 5 in A Major, TWV 40:18: III. Allegro (02:19)
17. Fantasia No. 6 in E Minor, TWV 40:19: I. Grave (02:22)
18. Fantasia No. 6 in E Minor, TWV 40:19: II. Presto (01:43)
19. Fantasia No. 6 in E Minor, TWV 40:19: III. Siciliana (01:28)
20. Fantasia No. 6 in E Minor, TWV 40:19: IV. Allegro (02:23)
21. Fantasia No. 7 in E-Flat Major, TWV 40:20: I. Dolce (01:51)
22. Fantasia No. 7 in E-Flat Major, TWV 40:20: II. Allegro (03:14)
23. Fantasia No. 7 in E-Flat Major, TWV 40:20: III. Largo (01:50)
24. Fantasia No. 7 in E-Flat Major, TWV 40:20: IV. Presto (00:58)
25. Fantasia No. 8 in E Major, TWV 40:21: I. Piacevolmente (01:28)
26. Fantasia No. 8 in E Major, TWV 40:21: II. Spirituoso (02:42)
27. Fantasia No. 8 in E Major, TWV 40:21: III. Allegro (01:06)
28. Fantasia No. 9 in B Major, TWV 40:22: I. Siciliana (01:44)
29. Fantasia No. 9 in B Major, TWV 40:22: II. Vivace (02:57)
30. Fantasia No. 9 in B Major, TWV 40:22: III. Allegro (01:35)
31. Fantasia No. 10 in D Major, TWV 40:23: I. Presto (01:37)
32. Fantasia No. 10 in D Major, TWV 40:23: II. Largo (02:08)
33. Fantasia No. 10 in D Major, TWV 40:23: III. Allegro (00:55)
34. Fantasia No. 11 in F Major, TWV 40:24: I. Un poco vivace (01:49)
35. Fantasia No. 11 in F Major, TWV 40:24: II. Soave (01:35)
36. Fantasia No. 11 in F Major, TWV 40:24: III. Un poco vivace (01:45)
37. Fantasia No. 11 in F Major, TWV 40:24: IV. Allegro (00:53)
38. Fantasia No. 12 in A Minor, TWV 40:25: I. Moderato (01:55)
39. Fantasia No. 12 in A Minor, TWV 40:25: II. Vivace (01:40)
40. Fantasia No. 12 in A Minor, TWV 40:25: III. Presto (01:01)


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