Telemann: Sacred Music

With 3600 listed works in all known genres credited to his name, Telemann was one of the most prolific composers of his time. He was famous for his extremely fluid compositional technique; but his stable health also enabled him to work for nearly 75 years without any major interruptions. Interestingly, Handel’s music was spared a major downfall in its posthumous acceptance. And while Johann Sebastian Bach’s works were only properly discovered in the course of the changing ideals of cultural history in the nineteenth century, Telemann’s works were regarded with increasing criticism, occasionally even with contempt. Systematic research into his contribution to music history did not begin until the second half of the twentieth century. Owing to the huge volume, there is no end in sight.