G. P. Telemann Flute and Violin Fantasias Arranged for Cello Arranged and edited by Benjamin Whitcomb
In the realm of unaccompanied music for cello, nothing competes with the Bach suites in popularity or importance. Once they are done exploring Bach, many cellists might move directly to the unaccompanied repertoire of the th century, which also contains many famous works and even masterpieces. Cellists who wish to stay in the Baroque period have other choices as well: Gabrielli, Degli Antonii, Vitali, Colombi, Galli, along with the Telemann works for da gamba. Given all this, why bother playing transcriptions of flute and violin fantasias on the cello? As far as I see it, there are two reasons: It is wonderful and rewarding to play unaccompanied cello, and the more suitable repertoire we find, the better. These pieces sound great on cello! Furthermore, in my experience, there are some people who are even more naturally attracted to Telemann s style than Bach s. There is a fair amount that has already been written about these fantasias, and I refer you to the sources listed in the bibliography if you are interested. Instead of repeating the background information about these works, it seemed preferable to provide some ideas that were not previously available. For example, in the tables below I have attempted to assign a level of difficulty to each of the fantasias. I based my scale on that of the ASTA String Syllabus, 7 Edition. For your reference, Level includes Bach Suite No., Level includes suites and, and level 5 includes suites and 5. In the column marked suitability, I have listed my own rating of the usefulness, value, and merit of each of these works as an unaccompanied piece for modern listeners. Part of this score is based on my own assessment of these works, and part is based on the audience response from the situations in which I performed them in public. Of course, there are many factors that could lead you to have a different assessment, or for your audience to have a different reaction to them, so a significant grain of salt is called for. In other words, ignore these numbers if you do not find them useful. The category marked duration should be self-explanatory. If you use different tempi than mine, be sure to adjust these scores accordingly. I have transposed several of the fantasias to keys that fit the cello better than their original key. As you can see, I have listed the original key of each piece in the table below, for your information.
Flute: Fantasia No. Original key Duration Difficulty Suitability A major 79 A minor.5 9 B minor 88 B-flat major.5 8 5 C major.5 8 6 D minor 5.5 8 7 D major.5 9 8 E minor.5 96 9 E major 5 9 F-sharp minor.5 87 G major.5.5 8 G minor 5.5 88 Violin: Fantasia No. Original key Duration Difficulty Suitability B-flat major 7 5 9 G major 5 9 F minor 5.5 5 96 D major 6 5 89 5 A major 5 5 9 6 E minor 8.5 5 9 7 E-flat major 8 9 8 E major 6 86 9 B minor 5.5 9 D major 5.5 9 F major 6 96 A minor 5 9 As you can see, I have rated all of the violin fantasias as being more difficult than the flute fantasias. I think that the primary factor affecting this difference in difficulty is due to the presence of many double stops in the former (i.e., the violin fantasias). In terms of suitability, the average rating of the flute fantasias is 86.5, whereas the average for the violin fantasias is 9. Concerning duration, the average length of the flute fantasias is. minutes, whereas the average length of the violin fantasias is 6 minutes. How might you use the above information? If you only wanted to learn one of these fantasias, you would probably want to choose one that was low in difficulty and high in suitability, of which the best exemplar (according to my assessments) would be flute fantasia No. 8 (with a
difficulty of and a suitability of 96). Another strong possibility would be violin fantasia No. 7 (difficulty, suitability 9, and with a duration of as much as 8 minutes). Tempos Tempos will naturally vary from person to person, and I can no more imagine someone having all of the same ideal tempos as me than I could imagine them giving them the same ratings for suitability of performance. However, I am hoping that it will be useful to many performers to have a suggested tempo to try at first. Some of the tempi I recommend are slower than those found in recordings by flutists or violinists (especially in some of the sections marked presto), but indeed I think that sometimes a slower tempo does sound better lower-register instruments. The important thing is that the tempo sounds natural and appropriate, and never frantic or out-ofcontrol. Markings I have added a number of fingerings and bowings to each of the fantasias in hopes that these, too, will prove useful to the performer. The fingerings were marked in accordance with the guidelines I laid out in my book, Cello Fingerings: Improve Your Left-Hand Game, the salient points of which are these: Each new number represents the first finger to be used in a new position (i.e., a shift). An x is used at times to specify that one will be playing in an extended (or open ) position. A slash ( / ) is sometimes used to indicate a shift as well, such as when I thought it useful to draw one s attention to the its location. Roman numerals indicate which string to play on, when this information needs clarification.
Bibliography Brown, Rachel. Telemann Fantasias: A Feat of Ingenuity and Inspiration. The Flute Magazine, Sept. 8, p. 5. Lee, D. Brian. G.P. Telemann's Fantasia in E major for Solo Flute: A Performance Guide Emphasizing the Concept of "Implied Harmony." Master s Thesis, Bowling Green State, 99. Min, KyoungJoo. Analyses of the Twelve Fantasies for Solo Flute (7-) and the Twelve Fantasies for Solo Violin (75) of G.Ph.Telemann. DMA doc, University of Washington, 998. Pearson, Eleanor M. The Telemann Fantasies: A Guide for the Modern Flutist. Master s Thesis, Stanford, 98. Portela da Silva, Antonio Carlos. A Performance Guide to Three of Telemann's Fantasias for Flute. DMA doc, University of Alabama,. Porter, Amy, Catherine Bull, and Daniel Pyle. Telemann: Fantasias for Flute without Bass, a Study Guide with Amy Porter. DVD produced by Mike Wilkinson. Michigan: Duderstadt Media Center, 8. Zohn, Steven. Music for a Mixed Taste: Style, Genre and Meaning in Telemann s Instrumental Works. New York: Oxford University Press, 8.
Flute Fantasia No. in C Major Vivace (± = ) G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb Œ ˆ ˆ x 8 Œ 5 α µ α α α 8 α x
α µ Τ Œ Œ adagio allegro ο 8 α ε Œ adagio allegro Œ adagio allegro ο ο ε adagio ε adagio adagio allegro Œ µ adagio ο ˆ Œ 7 7 Allegro (± = 68) 7 ˆ µ 5. 58.
Flute Fantasia No. in C Minor Grave (± = 7) α α α µ x G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb 5 α α α 8 α α α µ x ˆ µ µ µ α α α 6 α α α α α α Vivace (± = ) µ µ µ α µ µ α µ µ µ µ α µ µ µ µ α α α 8 α α α α α α µ ε α II µ α II ο µ α µ α
5 α α α α x µ x ο 9 α α α α ε µ µ µ µ α µ α α α 8 α α α µ µ µ α ο µ µ µ µ µ α µ ε α 5 α α α µ ο ε α α α µ Œ ο ε 56 6 Adagio (Ä = 8) α α α 6 µ 6 µ 6 6 α α α 6 α α α ˆ ˆ ˆ µ ˆ ˆ µ ˆ ˆ α ˆ
66 α α α ˆ ˆ α 6 µ α 6 µ α α α ˆ Allegro (± = 8) Œ µ 68 7 α α α µ µ µ 77 α α α µ µ µ µ α µ α α α µ µ α µ α 8 88 α α α µ µ α µ µ µ 9 α α α µ µ α µ µ 98 α α µ α µ α µ µ µ α α α α µ µ µ
Largo (± = 5) Vivace (± = 66) x x α Flute Fantasia No. in D Minor x Œ G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb α µ µ µ 6 α µ µ 8 α α α 6 α Œ 8 α Largo µ Œ α α Œ
α Vivace α α µ α α α µ 7 α µ 9 α µ µ α 5 α Œ 7 () α 7 5 Allegro (±. = ) 8 α α 8 α µ α
5 α 58 α x µ 6 α α α x 69
α α α α α Andante α α α α α µ µ Flute Fantasia No. in D-flat Major µ µ α (± = 5) µ µ G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb µ µ 6 α α α α α µ α 9 α α α α α α α α α α Œ Œ ε α α α α α Allegro (± = 6) ο 8 α α α α α µ α α α α α α µ
7 α α α α α µ µ α α α α α µ µ 5 α α α α α µ µ µ α α α α α α µ µ µ α µ µ α α α α α µ µ µ α α µ α 8 α α α α α µ α µ α µ α 5 α α α α α 56 α α α α α x µ µ µ α 6 α α α α α
65 α α α α α Œ Œ 69 α α α α α Presto ( = 96) ˆ 7 α α α α α ο ˆ ε 78 α α α α α Τ µ 8 α α α α α µ µ µ µ 88 α α α α α α α µ ο 9 α α α α α 97 α α α α α ε ˆ x x α α α α α ο ˆ ε α α α α α Τ 5
Flute Fantasia No. 5 in E-flat Major G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb α α α Presto ( = 88) Œ Largo 6 α α α ( = 8) ˆ Presto α α α Largo µ Œ 6 α α α µ ˆ µ µ α α α 7 8 ο µ µ ϖ 6 Allegro (±. = ) α α α 7 8 µ α α α α µ µ α 5 α α α Œ Œ µ Œ µ µ
α α α µ µ µ µ α α α Œ α µ Œ µ 8 α α α µ α α µ 5 α α α µ α µ Œ α µ Œ 56 α α α µ µ µ µ 6 α α α µ µ µ µ Œ 6 α α α µ α α Œ µ 68 α α α α µ µ 7 α α α Œ µ µ Œ α
76 α α α µ α Œ 7 5 α α α 7 5 Allegro (±. = 96) (79) 85 α α α µ α α µ α µ 9 95 α α α µ ˆ µ ˆ α α α µ 5 α α α α α α
Flute Fantasia No. 6 in F Minor Dolce α α α α (± = 8) µ µ G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb Œ 6 α α α α µ α µ α α α α µ µ µ µ µ 6 α α α α α Œ µ α α α α α α µ µ µ µ α α α α µ µ µ ˆ 7 α α α α Allegro (± = ) Œ µ µ µ µ µ 6 α α α α µ µ µ µ α
9 α α α α µ µ α α α α α Œ µ µ µ µ 5 α α α α α α µ µ α 8 α α α α µ µ α µ µ 5 α α α α µ ο 55 α α α α µ + ε µ µ µ 58 α α α α µ µ α µ µ α α α α µ µ µ Œ 6 6 Spirituoso ( = 6) α α α α µ µ
68 α α α α µ α 7 α α α α µ 76 α α α α µ µ 8 α α α α µ α µ µ 8 α α α α µ µ µ µ µ 88 α α α α µ µ 9 α α α α µ µ α µ 97 α α α α µ µ α α α α µ µ Τ
Flute Fantasia No. 7 in F Major α Largo (± = 8) G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb 5 α µ µ α 8 α µ µ µ µ µ α µ µ.. 7 Allegro (±. = 5) 8 α α α 7 α ε µ ο
5 α + α 5 α 59 α 66 α + ο 7 + α µ ε α 8 86 α Largo α α 7 µ 9
95. α 7. ϖ Presto ( = ) α µ 5 α ˆ α µ 6 α α α 6 α α µ α Τ Œ
Flute Fantasia No. 8 in G Minor Largo (± = ) α α G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb α α 5 α α ο µ µ µ µ µ α ε µ µ α µ µ 7 α α µ µ µ µ α α 9 α α µ α µ α α α µ µ ˆ α α α α ο ε 5 α α µ µ ˆ Œ 7
8 Spirituoso (±. = ) α α 7 µ α α µ µ µ α α µ α α 7 α α Œ α α α α α µ Œ α α α α µ 6 α α µ Œ 9 α α
α α 5 α α ο \ ε α α Œ 8 Allegro (± = 6) 5 α α 56 α α Œ µ µ 6 α α µ µ µ µ 6 α α µ µ µ µ α α µ α µ Œ 68
Flute Fantasia No. 9 in G Major Affettuoso (± = 8) ˆ G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb Œ 6 ˆ Œ µ ˆ 8 ˆ Œ 7 8 Allegro (Ä = 8) θ µ µ µ µ µ
6 Θ 5 µ µ 57 µ µ µ 6 µ 69 75 Grave ( = 6) 8 ˆ ϖ Vivace (± = ) ˆ 87 ˆ x ˆ x ˆ ˆ 9
8 ˆ ˆ µ µ µ ˆ ˆ
Flute Fantasia No. in A Minor A tempo giusto (± = 6) G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb 6 ˆ ˆ x 7 x µ α α α 8 µ 9 α µ
ˆ µ µ 5 55 Presto ( = ) 6 67 µ 7 79 85 α x
9 µ 97 α x Œ 5 ϖ 7 Moderato (±. 7 = 8) ˆ ˆ ˆ 8 ˆ ˆ µ 6
Flute Fantasia No. in B-flat Major Allegro (± = 9) α α G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb α α Œ 6 α α 8 α α µ µ α α µ x µ α α µ µ 5 α α µ α 8 α α µ µ α α µ
α α 6 α α ˆ Œ Adagio Œ (± = 76) Vivace (± = ) ˆ µˆ α α µ µ α α µ µ 6 α α µ α 9 α α µ µ α α α µ µ 5 α α µ α µ 8 α α µ µ α α
5 α α µ µ 5 α α Allegro α α 5 Œ 57 (. = 8) 6 α α µ 6 α α µ 68 α α µ µ α 7 α α 76 α α µ α α α µ µ α 8
Flute Fantasia No. in B-flat Minor Grave ( = 7) G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb α α α α α IV ˆ ϖ µ ϖ Allegro (± = ) 5 α α α α α 9 α α α α α µ µ α α α α α µ µ µ µ µ 7 α α α α α µ µ µ Œ µ µ µ α α α α µ α µ µ µ µ µ Grave α α α α α Œ µ ϖˆ µ µ ϖ
Allegro 9 α α α α α µ µ µ α α α α α µ α µ α α 7 α α α α α x α α α α α µ 6 α α α α α 5 α α α α α Œ µ µ 55 α α α α α µ Œ Dolce (± = 5) µ θ α µ Œ 58 α α α α α Œ µ
Allegro 6 α α α α α µ Œ 6 α α α α α x µ α α α α α α Œ 66 (/69) α α α α α Presto ( = 96) µ µ 7 α α µ α α µ µ µ α 78 α α α α α α µ α µ µ 8 α µ α α α µ α α α Τ µ µ µα α Fine (85) α α ˆ Œ
9 α α ˆ Œ µ 95 α α µ µ Œ 99 α α Œ µ µ ˆ α α 7 α α ˆ Œ ˆ α α Œ 7 α α µ ˆ α α Œ α D.S. al Fine
Violin Fantasia No. in E-flat Major Largo α α α (± = 8) ο G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb 7 α α α ε µ α α α µ µ µ µ x µ x µ µ µ 7 α α µ α µ µ α µ α α α α ο π ε α µ 7 α α α µ α α α µ µ x 7 α α α ο µ α ε α α α α µ
7 α α α Allegro (± = 88) µ α 5 α α α 5 α α α 56 α α α x µ µ µ 59 α α α µ µ ο µ ε 6 α α α µ µ µ µ 65 α α α µ α µ µ α x µ α µ µ 68 α α α µ 7 α α α µ ε µ ο µ
75 α α α µ 78 α α α µ α α 8 α α µ α α x 8 α α α ο 87 α α α ε Œ Grave ( = 76) 9 α α α µ µ µ µ α µ µ µ 96 α α α µ µ µ µ µ µ α α α µ µ 6 α α α µ µ µ µ ϖ ϖ Si replica l'allegro
Violin Fantasia No. in C Major G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb Largo (± = 8) Œ µ 6 Œ Τ Œ µ 8 ε 7 ο Allegro (Ä = 8) µ
7 5 α α α 6 α α α 67 α α α α α α α α 7 α Θ θ 79 86 9 98 θ Θ θ Θ
6 α α µ 8 Θ Θ 7 5 Allegro (±. = ) (7) 5 7 µ 9 56
α α α α 7 α α α α α α α α α α α α Adagio (± = ) α α α α β µ α α µ ο ε µ Violin Fantasia No. in B-flat Minor µ µ G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb µ + µ α µ α µ µ Θ µ µ µ + α α ο ε µ Œ α α α α + µ α µ µ α µ α µ µ µ II µ 6 α α α α µ α α α Presto ( = 8) µ Œ Œ α α α α α α α µ µ 5 α α α α +
α α α α µ µ + 5 α α α α µ µ α α α α + α µ α α α α 5 α α α α α α III + ϖ α 5 α α α α α + µ + 55 α α α α α 6 α α α α µ α µ α + α α α 66 α α α α α α α α µ µ + µ 7 α α α α II
75 α α α α α µ µ µ α α µ 8 α α α α α α µ µ µ + α α 85 α α α α µ α µ + α µ µ α 9 α α α α µ α α + α µ ο µ µ α µ α α α α α α µ µ µ µ ϖ ϖ ϖ 7 ε 96 Grave ( = 69) α α α α 7 Vivace (Ä = 5) µ µ µ 9 α α α α µ 6 α α α α α µ µ α µ α Θ α α µ µ Θ α α α α α µ µ µ Θ Θ
Violin Fantasia No. in G Major Vivace (± = 9) + µ + G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb 6 + 6 µ + µ 5 µ µ Œ + 6 α µ µ
µ + 6 µ + 5 + µ + 56 6 µ µ µ 65 µ µ 69 7 77 Œ µ µ µ µ Grave Œ Θ Θ Œ
(78) Allegro (±. = 88) 8 86 Œ 89 µ µ 9 µ µ µ µ 96 µ 99 5 α µ Œ
Violin Fantasia No. 5 in D Major Allegro (± = ) G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb 8 Œ β Presto (± = 9) µ µ 7 µ µ + µ 7 Allegro Œ
5 T Presto Œ β 8 µ 7 µ 5 + 55 58 6 66 µ µ Œ Andante (± = 5) µ µ Allegro 7 (± = 9)
76 8 87 Θ Œ 9 98 Θ µ Œ µ 6 ο ε Θ Œ
Violin Fantasia No. 6 in A Minor Grave ( = 76) ϖ ϖ G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb µ 8 ϖ ϖ ϖ 9 Τ ϖ µ α ϖ ϖ µ µ α α µ ϖ ϖ ϖ 7 ϖτ ϖ ϖ ϖ Presto ( = 9) ϖ ϖ 5 5 ϖ ϖ
59 65 7 77 + µ 8 ϖ ϖ µ 9 α µ µ µ 97 µ µ α µ µ µ + 8 5 µ III ϖ
() Siciliana (Ä = ) α 6 α Allegro (± = 88) µ µ,,,,,,,,, 6 µ 5 µ (57) (65) µ 7
Violin Fantasia No. 7 in A-flat Major Dolce (Ä = 8) α α α α β G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb µ α α α α µ α µ II µ 5 α α α α µ µ µ µ µ α α α α µ µ µ µ (6) µ µ µ µ α µ α α µ 9 α α α α µ µ α µ α α α α µ α α α α α µ α Œ 6 α α α α Allegro (± = )
α α α α µ µ µ µ α 5 α α α α µ µ µ µ α µ µ α 9 α α α α µ α µ µ µ α α α α µ µ µ 9 α α α α µ µ µ µ µ α α α α α α µ µ µ µ α 8 µ α α α α µ µ µ µ µ µ µ 5 α α α α µ µ µ α µ µ 56 α α α α α α µ µ µ α 6 α α α α
65 α α α α µ α α II α α 7 75 α α α α Largo ( = 66) µ µ µ ο α α α α µ µ ε 8 µ α µ α α α α α α µ α µ ο µ µ ε 86 9 α α α α Presto ( = 96) µ µ α α α α µ 97 α µ α µ α α α α + µ 8 α α α α µ + µ µ µ α α α α + µ
Violin Fantasia No. 8 in A Major Piacevolmente β (± = 5) G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb µ 6 6 µ µ µ µ 6 6 7 + 6 6 µ µ µ Œ 6 Spirituoso (± = ) x x µ 9 T Œ
x µ µ µ 8 µ µ µ 7 µ µ µ µ 5 µ µ 56 6 T Œ β 65 (±. = 8) β µ 7 Allegro 77 µ µ µ 86 µ
Violin Fantasia No. 9 in E Minor 8 Siciliana 7 (±. = 56) µ ο ε µ G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb µ µ µ 5 Τ Œ µ Œ (7) Vivace (± = 9) µ µ 8 µ
5 µ µ µ µ µ 57 6 µ 7 76 8 88 Allegro (±. = ) 9 98 µ 8
Violin Fantasia No. in G Major β Presto ( = 9) Œ G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb 6 + 5 5 5 µ
7 5 µ 58 6 ε 67 µ ο + ο µ 7 ε µ + 77 8 ϖ Largo (± = 76) 88 Œ Œ 9 µ µ
98 µ µ µ α µ α µ Œ 8 Œ µ µ 8 Allegro (±. = ) 9 µ 6 Œ
Violin Fantasia No. in B-flat Major G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb Un poco vivace α α (± = 88) 9 α α µ µ µ α µ µ 6 α α µ µ α α 8 α α µ µ µ α µ µ α α µ µ 9 α α α α α + µ 8 α α
5 α α µ 59 α α α 65 α α 7 α α 77 α α 8 α α 7 Œ Soave (Ä = 8) µ 89 α α µ µ µ x α 96 α α µ µ α µ
α α µ α α µ α α α α α α µ µ α α x α Τ µ α α α α 8 Da Capo Un poco vivace Allegro (± = 6) 5 α α 8 α α α α µ 5 α α 9 α α
α Moderato (± = 8) Violin Fantasia No. in D Minor Œ G. P. Telemann ed. B. Whitcomb 6 α + α α α 7 α µ µ µ µ µ µ α µ θ µ + α α α Œ µ Œ µ 6 α α
5 α Vivace (±. = 76) 5 α 56 α µ µ µ 6 α α µ + 65 α α µ µ µ µ α µ α 7 α + µ µ µ 76 α + µ µ µ + µ µ 8 α µ µ µ µ µ 88 α µ µ α µ + µ
9 α 98 α α µ µ 9 α µ µ α µ µ α α 9 Presto ( = 88) 5 7