How many cantatas did telemann write
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Telemann, Georg Philipp
Life
Telemann was born in Magdeburg, the capital of the Duchy of Magdeburg, in 1681. Telemann’s family was not particularly musical; his great-grandfather had served as Cantor at Halberstadt, but no one else in his direct family had been involved in music. Telemann’s father died in 1685, leaving his mother to raise and oversee the education of the children. They were an upper-middle-class family, and many worked in the church. Telemann began to discover music at age 10, and quickly showed talent, composing his first opera by age 12. But this talent was not approved of by his family. Fearing that her son would pursue a career in music, Telemann’s mother confiscated all of his musical instruments and in 1693 sent him to a new school in Zellerfeld (1694-1698), hoping that this change would put the boy on a more lucrative career path. However, the superintendent of this school approved of his talents, and Telemann continued to compose and expand his knowledge of music on his own. By the time he completed his studies at the Gymnasium Andrean
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Passions (Telemann)
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In 1721, Telemann settled in Hamburg, where he became the director of music for the five principal churches in that city. One of his obligations in that position was to set the passion story to music each year, cycling through the four evangelists one per year and then beginning the cycle over again. In all, he composed some 46 passions, most of them at Hamburg. Of these, 20 survive, including five St. Luke passions. The unknown poet who provided Telemann with his libretto for this passiondrew on the biblical text of St. Luke, 22:39-23:48 but contributed his own poetry for the arias, as well as for the contemplative chorus Ach, klage.
Bach's two surviving passions from the 1720's, the only passions commonly performed today, come from a different world from this work by Telemann. Although the two composers were exact contemporaries, Telemann's St. Luke Passion of 1744 was written nearly two decades after Bach's passions and originated in the religious and political atmosphere of the free city of Hamburg. Its musical style and re
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