Telemann: 12 Fantasias for Solo Flute

‘The reserve collections of the Bibliothèque Royale of Brussels hold the sole printed copy of Telemann’s Twelve Fantaisies for solo flute. . . . These fantasias considerably enrich the slender corpus of Baroque works for flute without bass, alongside two other gems, the Partita of J. S. Bach and the Sonata in A minor of C. P. E. Bach. A cycle for solo flute of this kind, arranged by tonalities (the twelve that come most naturally to the instrument) and rising gradually from the key of A to that of G, is unique in the repertory. . . . These fantasias, each with its own mood, are miniatures consisting of a succession of three or four movements in the same key. All of them have in common the concision, the formal brevity and the rapid alternation of their movements. Telemann plays on effects of contrast and surprise by switching between opposing characters and tempi.

The open form of the fantasia offers the composer an ideal field of freedom and expression for his inexhaustible imagination. A fervent champion of the réunion des goûts (mixed style) embracing German, Italian, French and Polish tastes, Telemann covered all the genres, national styles and compositional idioms of his time.’
François Lazarevitch