Symphony Listening Program - Telemann
- What
- Symphony Listening Program - Telemann
- When
- 4/11/2025
Audio File
Daily scripts to use with students:
MONDAY: This week’s feature composer is Georg Philipp Telemann. The feature composition is the second movement of the Concerto for Viola (Vee-OH-la). Telemann was a composer who lived in Germany at the same time as Johann Sebastian Bach (Bawk). Telemann wrote this concerto to feature the viola, the larger cousin to the violin. A string orchestra and harpsichord provide the accompaniment.
TUESDAY: This week’s feature composer is Georg Philipp Telemann. The feature composition is the second movement of the Concerto for Viola. Telemann lived and composed music at the same time as Bach. To write his viola concerto, Telemann had to plan how to make the sound of the viola stand out from the string orchestra. The viola is not high-pitched and brilliant sounding like the violin, but lower-pitched and mellow sounding. He solved this musical problem by writing only a very light accompaniment while the viola plays it feature music.
WEDNESDAY: This week’s feature composer is Georg Philipp Telemann. The feature composition is the second movement of the Concerto for Viola. A concerto is a piece of music that features one instrument. Telemann has to think carefully about how to feature the viola because its sound is lower-pitched and mellow. He solved this musical problem by composing music that used the full sound of the string orchestra and then writing only a very light harpsichord accompaniment while the viola plays its feature music.
THURSDAY: This week’s feature composer is Georg Philipp Telemann. The feature composition is the second movement of the Concerto for Viola. Telemann designed his music so that while the viola played its feature music, there would only be a very light accompaniment by the harpsichord. He contrasted these viola solo sections with sections played by the full string orchestra. It is like looking at a picture drawn with many different kinds of lines—thin, thick, delicate, bold short, and continuous, and so on.
FRIDAY: This week’s feature composition is the second movement of the Concerto for Viola. Do you remember the name of the composer? (Short pause.) Did you remember Georg Philipp Telemann? That’s correct. In his viola concerto, Telemann lets us hear the beauty of the viola. Its darker, richer, and thicker sound is an enjoyable contrast to the clearer, more brilliant, but thinner sound of the violin.