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Georg Philipp Telemann: Mit Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten (Rowohlts Monographien) (German Edition)

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The most comprehensive biography of Georg Philipp Telemann is that of Richard Petzoldt, published in East Germany as "Georg Philipp Telemann - Leben und Werk", Leipzig, VEB Deutscher Verlag fuer Musik, 1967, and translated by Horace Fitzpatrick for the 1974 English edition, "Georg Philipp Telemann" London, Benn (1974).

Karl Grebe cites in his little (7x4.5", 156 page) book's forward that his is not a book by a musicologist. It was written by a practicing musician drawn to Telemann both by his music and his personality. But with his German heritage of thoroughness, Grebe's work nevertheless abounds in detail, including a complete copy of Telemann's 1718 autobiographical essay in Mattheson's Grosse Generalbassschule (1731), as well as copies of letters, poems, and other descriptive material, and unusual copper etchings and lithographs about Telemann and his times.

At the time of his first publication, 1970, many Telemann works were yet to be published, but Grebe had access to material being prepared by the Telemann publishing project in Kassel, sponsored by Baerenreiter music publishers, and edited by Wolf Hobohm and Martin Ruhnke. He himself apparently edited some Telemann quartets for publication. Later editions of the book up to 1981 include bibliographic addenda citing newer documents and reports of conferences up to 1980, so that it seems probable that Grebe had access to manuscripts and other material that were unpublished at the time of Petzoldt's book.

Grebe not only supplies interesting details and perspectives from Telemann's lifetime. He also discusses post World War II developments, including two parallel organizations that focused on Telemann. Scholarly research centered in the Telemann project of the "Deutschen Kulturbund Magdeburg" (then East Germany) under the leadership of Wolf Hobohm. In contrast, the Hamburg-based Telemann Gesellschaft concentrated on performance and recording of Telemann's music - in other words in rediscovery of the modern rewards for both players and audiences from this long neglected master.

A modern English-language update of Telemann is overdue, but for German speakers this little book offers much of both human and musical interest on the acknowledged leader among German composers of his time. Long eclipsed by J.S. Bach throughout the 19th Century and into the 20th, Telemann is on his way back. Partly because of the availability of a vast number of newly-published chamber and orchestral compositions to fit almost every combination of instruments and voice - rarely failing - when thoughtfully performed - in inspiration and variation, Telemann seems to have now regained some of his former popularity lead over his good friend, Johann Sebastian Bach, in the early music movement.