Georg Phillipp Telemann was a self-taught Baroque composer who was born in Magdeburg, Germany in 1681. Telemann was a contemporary of Antonio Vivaldi and a friend of George Frideric Handel, and was more famous than Johann Sebastian Bach when they were both alive. Telemann is credited with over 800 extant works, earning him the title of “most prolific composer of all time.” He may have written over 3000 compositions, but many have gone missing.
Telemann was raised his mother after his father died in 1685. His mother confiscated his musical instruments and sent him to a new school to try to dissuade him from pursuing a career in music when he was 12 years old. The plan backfired because the school superintendent recognized Telemann’s talent and allowed him to continue his musical studies, albeit on his own.
Telemann continued his self-tuition in music at the Gymnasium, learning to play instruments from the woodwind, brass, and string families, such as the recorder, violin, flute, and trombone. His services as a composer were soon commissioned for the city’s churches, and his music career took off. He enrolled at Leipzig University with the intention of studying law, but his music career took off.
Telemann founded a Collegium Musicum to perform his music, and the following year, he became director of the city’s opera house and a church cantor, causing Johann Kuhnau, Leipzig’s director of music, some resentment. In 1705, Telemann moved on to Sorau as Kapellmeister, where he stayed for two years and composed primarily suites and overtures. He was appointed as lead singer in the court of Eisenach after several other moves, where he met Johann Sebastian Bach.
In 1721, Telemann was appointed to the position of musical director of Hamburg’s five main churches, a position he would hold for the rest of his career. He composed two cantatas and other sacred music every week, taught music theory and singing, directed the local collegium musicum, and directed the local opera house for a time. When Kuhnau’s position in Leipzig became vacant, Telemann applied for it and was offered the job, but he turned it down, instead using the offer to get a pay raise in Hamburg.
Telemann’s interests shifted toward theory around 1740, resulting in a decrease in his compositional output, though he continued to compose oratorios during this time. After Telemann’s death, interest in his work waned, but a critical edition of his works published in the 1950s sparked a revival, and his works are now widely performed and recorded. His best-known works include the Suite in A Minor for Recorder, Strings, and Basso Continuo and the Viola Concerto in G Major.