The 12 Telemann fantasias recorded here were written for flute or violin, but they have survived transcription for other instruments nicely. The unaccompanied texture may suggest a kinship with Bach's unaccompanied works for violin and cello, and for the tradition of virtuoso pieces that preceded them, but Telemann's pieces are short and simple -- mostly about five to seven minutes long, and divided into shorter sections. Recorder player
Peter Holtslag, in his highly informative notes, proposes that they were meant as teaching pieces. The individual sections have Italian tempo indications, which would seem to indicate sonata-like structures, but a few minutes' listening confirms that these are true fantasias -- both the movement sequences and the structures of individual movements are completely unpredictable, and, to be honest, a great deal of fun. These little works are brimming with invention.
Holtslag looks extremely sober on the album's cover in his black business suit, but he is attuned to Telemann's sense of humor. That humor is of two kinds. Hear the Vivace section of the first part of the Fantasia No. 2 in C minor, where one phrase group comes to a close with a uniquely drawn-out echo effect.
Holtslag brings this out with a broad wink. But he also has a sharp ear for the clever ways in which Telemann suggests traditional Baroque structures, and his notes list quite a few of these. Hear the "fugue" that is the middle Allegro of the Fantasia No. 5 in E flat major (track 12), for instance. Where Bach would have challenged the player with lengthy stretches of double stops in the process of creating a fugue on a single instrument, Telemann fills in the entrances with minimal gestures that delight precisely because they are so sparse. Some of the evocations of full-ensemble forms, however, are anything but sparse; the first movement of the Fantasia No. 11 in B flat major (track 28), which
Holtslag characterizes as an "Italian concerto," gives
Holtslag quite a workout in what were probably intended as stretches of violin figuration, but his tone and vigor do not flag. This delightful release, educational and enjoyable in equal measure, is one of a group of new recordings of the Telemann fantasias to appear in the 2000s; they all sound dramatically different from one another, but Telemann's still-underappreciated music is big enough to stand up to the whole variety of interpretations.