JMT series, part 9-2 (Telemann)

n34: This double treatment of the fourth ^5 to ^8. . . .

Telemann, Harmonischer Gottesdienst, cantata no. 9, first aria. My note: where affect and tonal design are nicely linked, as the text is “Liebe, die von Himmel stammet, steigt auch wieder Himmel an" [Love that comes [down] from Heaven, ascends to Heaven again"].

My source was a facsimile of the first score edition, downloaded from IMSLP. I edited the voice part to put it in a modern treble clef.

The violin introduces the two contrasting figures that mimic the text: at (a) descending in eighth notes; at (b) rising sixteenth notes. The voice repeats them -- see (a) and (b) in the third system. At (c) the voice reaches ^7-^8 to end the phrase ("Himmel an") but the harmony undercuts the cadence, which arrives shortly after with the traditional dominant level cadence midway through the A-section of a da capo aria -- see boxed notes in the fourth system.  Beneath the score find the details of the mirror Urlinie reading.

In the second half of the A-section, the violin has a short ritornello on the descending figure, and the voice repeats it, turning quickly toward the minor (another cliché of the da capo aria). The subsequent ascent -- at (d) is expanded: a continuous rise to the tonic ^8 (Eb5) is again undercut by a deceptive close -- at (e) -- which enables another phrase full and a strong close. I have included the violin's closing ritornello and the beginning bars of the B-section for sake of context.

Here are the details of the mirror Urlinie reading:

Telemann, Concerto à sei in G major

This concerto is labelled "à sei" or "for six," meaning six-part strings plus continuo. It is written in the common sonata da chiesa design (slow-fast-slow-fast). Its opening adagio is of interest to us. Only parts were available through IMSLP; the score below is my effort at notation.

Despite a three-fold cadence to the upper register G5 (see bars 20-21, 24-26, 27-29), it seems to me that this is one of those pieces with a stable tonal frame from the outset. I take that frame to be the sixth ^3/^8, or B4-G5 -- see the box in bar 4. The subsequent boxes in the score trace pertinent sixths through the movement. Note that, in the most traditional fashion, the sixths become an octave to close -- see the two ** in bars 26 & 29.

intervals and lines in a Siciliana by Telemann

In 1735, Georg Philip Telemann published a set of 12 fantasias for solo violin. (Page on IMSLP.) These are surprisingly varied in design and style, but the sixth in E minor is quite traditional in its four-movement sonata da chiesa order. The first movement is a very expressive sarabande, the second is a fugue in presto tempo, the third is a siciliana, and the fourth is a sonata-like Allegro.

The siciliana is a simple--but, for Telemann, rare--example of a rising cadence gesture tied to a long-range intervallic design. The initial fourth D5-G5 is tentative, but confirmed in the third measure by a definite linear connection to A5. The second half unfolds a sixth B4-G5 systematically through a rising, partly chromatic, line.

Telemann, Partita n2 for Oboe and Continuo, Aria

Telemann published a set of 6 partitas for oboe and continuo in 1716 (facsimile available on IMSLP). Ever practical, he said they could be performed on flute or violin or even on keyboard alone. At first glance, the design of the partitas seems a bit unusual: an opening named movement followed by six "arias." These latter, however, are all small binary-form pieces in familiar types, and so the result is a more or less typical partita/suite design.

The second partita is in G major. Its second aria is a gigue that rewrites its first cadence in order to rise at the end -- see the second graphic below. The form of the rising cadence is one of those that works around the cadential dominant figure's two "suspensions" with a reaching-over (Forte's overlap): D5-E5-drops back to D5 but simultaneously G5 reaches over and completes the cadence with F#5-G5.    -- Click on the graphics for larger images. --