Air De Trompette

It has been said that Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) wrote more music than Bach and Haendel combined. His oeuvre comprises, in part, over 50 operas, 23 yearly cycles of cantatas, masses, motets, psalms, oratorios, seculat cantatas, about 1000 orchestral suites, 46 passions, and so on. His last and most important position (from 1721) was that of church music director for the five principal churches in Hamburg. In 1728, together with J. V. Garner, he founded the first German musical periodical, Der getreue Music-Meister. In this journal, all sorts of musical compositions were published; indeed, one could look upon it as a compendium of the techniques of musical composition of that day. It is from this publication that the charming, concise Air [de] trompette is taken. The piece lasts hardly a minute, yet in this time it perfectly sums up the quintessence of the trumpet. Italian florid melody is exquisitely combined with French ornamentation and elegance. Two versions of the Air given in this version for C trumpet in the key of C and another for Bb trumpet in the key of Bb. Dynamic markings, ornaments written out in small type, and the continuo realization are all editorial. Brackets and dotted slur lines indicate other editorial additions. Edward H. Tarr