ZÄRTLICH UND VON EDLER EINFALT - Sicilianischer Jahrgang - Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
19 March/19h00 Germany / Magdeburg - Telemannfesttage 2026
Duke Johann Wilhelm of Saxe-Eisenach wanted to hear modern church music in his court chapel, as both a liturgical practice and a statement of prestige. He therefore kept Georg Philipp Telemann closely tied to the court even after Telemann left Eisenach, appointing him in 1717 as “Kapellmeister from home” and commissioning annual cycles of sacred works intended to be heard nowhere else. Within this framework Telemann wrote the Sicilianischer Jahrgang, around 70 cantatas for every Sunday and feast day of the church year. Fascinated by national styles, he shaped these works with a stylised Southern Italian pastoral sound, often highlighted by two obbligato oboes or recorders and by features of the siciliano, marked by “tenderness and noble simplicity,” as Johann Mattheson described the style.
For today’s performance, seven cantatas from the Sicilianischer Jahrgang have been selected and arranged as a coherent cycle. Their order follows thematic and musical relationships rather than the liturgical calendar, creating an inner dramaturgy that guides listeners through core aspects of Lutheran faith: praise of the Creator, supplication and lament, brotherly love, humility, repentance and mercy, culminating in a consoling promise of divine patience. Each cantata opens with a dictum sung by soloists or ensemble, providing recurring points of orientation while revealing Telemann’s extraordinary variety. Contrasting affects and keys are placed with intent, forming a sound world inspired by Italian models yet rooted in Central German Protestant tradition, intensified by the pastoral colour of paired oboes or recorders.
A key principle of this cycle is the consistent distribution of solo material: all eight singers take turns in arias and recitatives. Telemann’s writing grows from small, vocal motifs that follow the text with natural clarity, while contrapuntal choruses gather the voices into a warm, transparent ensemble sound. Constantly shifting vocal combinations create a vivid play of timbres and rhetorical viewpoints, balancing individual address and collective coro, as the orchestra comments, supports, contradicts and opens sonic space. A festive overture begins the journey, with further suite movements placed at key structural moments. The result is not a sequence of separate pieces but a tightly shaped arc, making Telemann’s Sicilianischer Jahrgang tangible as a living “laboratory of affects.” The cycle will premiere at the Magdeburg Telemann Festival Days 2026, as a homage to Telemann’s creative courage and an invitation to give this unique collection a renewed present.
Ensemble Polyharmonique & Wrocław Baroque Orchestra
Magdalene Harer – Sopran
Joowon Chung – Sopran
Alexander Schneider – Alt & Musikalische Leitung
Jaro Kirchgessner – Alt
Johannes Gaubitz – Tenor
Christopher Renz – Tenor
Matthias Lutze – Bass
Cornelius Uhle – Bass
For today’s performance, seven cantatas from the Sicilianischer Jahrgang have been selected and arranged as a coherent cycle. Their order follows thematic and musical relationships rather than the liturgical calendar, creating an inner dramaturgy that guides listeners through core aspects of Lutheran faith: praise of the Creator, supplication and lament, brotherly love, humility, repentance and mercy, culminating in a consoling promise of divine patience. Each cantata opens with a dictum sung by soloists or ensemble, providing recurring points of orientation while revealing Telemann’s extraordinary variety. Contrasting affects and keys are placed with intent, forming a sound world inspired by Italian models yet rooted in Central German Protestant tradition, intensified by the pastoral colour of paired oboes or recorders.
A key principle of this cycle is the consistent distribution of solo material: all eight singers take turns in arias and recitatives. Telemann’s writing grows from small, vocal motifs that follow the text with natural clarity, while contrapuntal choruses gather the voices into a warm, transparent ensemble sound. Constantly shifting vocal combinations create a vivid play of timbres and rhetorical viewpoints, balancing individual address and collective coro, as the orchestra comments, supports, contradicts and opens sonic space. A festive overture begins the journey, with further suite movements placed at key structural moments. The result is not a sequence of separate pieces but a tightly shaped arc, making Telemann’s Sicilianischer Jahrgang tangible as a living “laboratory of affects.” The cycle will premiere at the Magdeburg Telemann Festival Days 2026, as a homage to Telemann’s creative courage and an invitation to give this unique collection a renewed present.
Ensemble Polyharmonique & Wrocław Baroque Orchestra
Magdalene Harer – Sopran
Joowon Chung – Sopran
Alexander Schneider – Alt & Musikalische Leitung
Jaro Kirchgessner – Alt
Johannes Gaubitz – Tenor
Christopher Renz – Tenor
Matthias Lutze – Bass
Cornelius Uhle – Bass
