The cantata cycle Die Tageszeiten, which was composed in Hamburg in 1757, is one of the outstanding late works of Georg Philipp Telemann. A symphonie and four cantatas (each of which consists of an aria, accompagnato, aria, and chorus) portray, in a richly sensitive manner, the course of a day, beginning with the awakening of nature to the sunset. The poetry of Friedrich Wilhelm Zachariae and Telemann’s music herald the beauty of nature, as well as the greatness of God revealed within it. Colorful instrumentation and pictures in sound corresponding to each time of the day, delicate compositional structure, and an ingenious realization of the text characterize this work, whose musical idiom is at times reminiscent of Haydn.
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Composer
Georg Philipp Telemann
| 1681-1767Telemann's extremely rich compositional output, the fruits of three quarters of a century's work, encompasses almost all genres of music; in his vocal works it ranges from songs with basso continuo accompaniment to chamber and church cantatas, and to opera. In his own assessment, church music played a central role in his output; he alone probably composed over 1,600 church cantatas, as well as cantata-style funeral music settings (such as Du aber, Daniel, gehe hin), psalm settings (for example, Deus judicium tuum) and oratorios. Throughout his works Telemann showed himself to be a progressive composer, open to new trends and keen to experiment whilst exploring new directions; not without reason was he called a forerunner of classicism. However, his compositions constitute only a part of his importance to music history: as a music publisher, the author of publications for teaching, the director of middle-class music societies and initiator of public concerts, he made a considerable contribution to creating the preconditions for the support of the musically-educated middle classes in the ensuing era of music. Personal details