TELEMANN'S MUSICAL STYLE c. 1709-c. 1730 AND J. S.

BACH: THE EVIDENCE OF

BORROWING
Author(s): Ian Payne
Source: Bach, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Spring - Summer 1999), pp. 42-64
Published by: Riemenschneider Bach Institute
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41640474
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 TELEMANN'S MUSICAL STYLE c. 1709-c . 1730
AND J, S. BACH:
THE EVIDENCE OF BORROWING

Ian Payne

Anyone familiar with the music of Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-

1767) and J. S. Bach (1685-1750) will be aware of the differences in
style that exist between the two composers. This realization is fortunate,
because it challenges attempts by earlier commentators to regard Tele-
mann as a feeble imitator totally eclipsed by Bach and encourages more
realistic a priori assessments of Telemann's achievement.1 If, however,
one stands aside from Telemann's mature instrumental publications of
the 1730s, with their consummate mastery of the "mixed taste," and
considers his earlier instrumental music, one has fleeting glimpses of
Bach's pre-1730s style before it became subject to galant influences
during the course of that decade.2 Readers very familiar with

1 For some recent comments on Telemann scholarship see Steven Zohn, "Music Paper at
the Dresden Court and the Chronology of Telemann's Instrumental Music," to be pub-
lished in Proceedings of the International Conference on the History, Function and
Study of Watermarks, Roanoke, VA, October 1996 (working title, forthcoming). Steven
Zohn, in his "The Ensemble Sonatas of Georg Philipp Telemann: Studies in Style, Genre
and Chronology" (diss., Cornell U., 1995), pp. 8-9 and note 17, points out how some
commentators, comparing Telemann with Bach, have dubbed the former superficial and
lacking a personal style. This view was encouraged by comments in Philipp Spitta's
influential biography Johann Sebastian Bach, His Work and Influence on the Music of
Germany, 1685-1750 (Leipzig: Breitkopf and Hrtel), Trans. Clara Bell and J. A. Fuller-
Maitland (R/1951), which, reproduced in the first edition of Grove's Dictionary of Mu-
sic and Musicians , (London, 1 890), were several times reprinted "to the great detriment
of Telemann's reputation in the English-speaking world." More recently, however, Dr.
Martin Ruhnke "has argued persuasively that comparisons between Bach and Telemann
are pointless, given their different musical aesthetics" (Zohn, "The Ensemble Sonatas,"
p. 9 note 17). While supporting Ruhnke's assessment, the present article will, I hope,
show that some comparison is inevitable.
Robert Marshall, "Bach the Progressive: Observations on His Later Works," Musical
Quarterly , LXIII/3 (1976): 313-357. See also Gerhardt Herz, "Der Lombardische
Rhythmus in Bachs Vokalschaffen," Bach-Jahrbuch 64 (1978), eds. Hans-Joachim
Schulze and Christoph Wolff (Leipzig, 1978): 148-180, who suggests that this rhythmic
device, appearing first in Bach's vocal music in 1723, is found in his instrumental works
from 1726 on.

42

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 EVIDENCE OF BORROWING 43

Telemanis music will know that oddly Bach-like t

gressions4 occasionally appear in his works. But
pre-c. 1730 instrumental works, preserved in the m
at Darmstadt, Dresden, and Rostock,5 go further a
of thematic cross-references with Bach which may
cidental. That ideas from Telemann's published wor
1730s were enthusiastically borrowed and rewor
(1685-1759), his friend and lifelong correspondent
known.6 But borrowings between Bach and Telema
ceived the same attention and, excepting Bach's arr
board of at least one Telemann concerto, are not w
scholarly literature.7 This article aims to shed new

3 See, for example, the two five-part sonatas, TWV 44:5 and
Darmstadt, Hessische Landes- und Hochschule-bibliothek, Mus
as [D-DS], Mus. ms 1042/37 and Mus. ms 1042/15, both co
where the dark five-part textures and (in the latter work) form
rale-like subject are uncannily close in style and mood to Bach
Todesbanden (Easter, c. 1707-1 708), though there is no direct
orchestral suites copied in the mid- 1720s note, too, how styli
mande from TMV 55:C4 (D-DS, Mus. ms 1034/42) and the s
phonic lines in some of the dances from Bach's first orchestr
(BWV 1066, c. 17 13-1 723) though, again, there is no direct mus
4 The austere treatment of the tonic pedal in the opening Gravem
redolent of the opening of Bach's St. Matthew Passion than of T
inspired, galant textures and the harmonic device of simply alte
nant chords over a pedal that is so common in Musique de ta
the "Paris" Quartets of the 1730s. A strikingly similar treatmen
(Gravement, bars 12-13) is found in the Allegro-Adagio of the
Kross V. G (2), second movement, bars 73-74: see Siegfried K
konzert bei Georg Philipp Telemann (Tutzing: Hans Schnei
which also probably dates from Telemann's Eisenach or early
similarity of treatment points to a key feature of the composer'
discussed below, namely, the repetition of material: not only of
within a movement, but also of smaller units in other works, es
key.
5 The main repositories are identified at the beginning of the note section. All the Tele-
mann works cited are published unless stated otherwise, the majority in the Seveninus
Urtext Telemann Edition [SUTE] ed. Ian Payne. The main objective of the series, pub-
lished by Severinus Press (12 St. Ethelbert Close, Sutton St. Nicholas, Hereford HRI
3BF, UK, http://www.cix.co.uk/ -severinus/"), is to print the best of Telemann's unpub-
lished instrumental ensemble music (see above for sources of TWV numbers); re-editions
are also included, however - especially of certain solo concertos (no TVW listing, but see
Kross, pp. 121-172).
6 See principally J. H. Roberts, "Handel's Borrowings from Telemann: an Inventory," in
Gttinger Hndel Beitrge , I, ed. Hans Joachim Marx (Kassel: Brenreiter, 1984), pp.
147-171.
7 A few vague comparisons are offered by Peter Williams, The Organ Music of J. S.
Bach, Cambridge Studies in Music (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980), I,
pp.14, 270-271; II, 181-2; III, 89-90. See especially III, p. 101, where the author, com-
menting on Telemann's statement to Johann Mattheson that he had "dressed up" some
Polish music "in an Italian coat," adds: "It is difficult to imagine J. S. Bach 'dressing up'

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 44 BACH

relationship betwee
cal borrowings as an
sical style, and brie
compositional techn
Telemann.

Evidence of thematic material apparently shared by Telemann and

Bach is provided by two respective fugue subjects. They are found in
the Sonata in F Major, for two violins, two violas, and continuo ( TWV
44:11, last movement) and Fughetta in F Major ( BWV 901), later ex-
panded into Fugue No. 17 in A-flat Major (. BWV 886) from Das
wohltemperirte Clavier , II (Leipzig, 1738-1742). While it is true that
similar subjects are encountered in the music of other composers,8 and
that Telemann's working of his F Major fugue differs radically from
Bach's, it is also true that Telemann sometimes reworked his own fugue
subject in very different ways,9 and such differences in treatment do not
prove that the themes themselves were not borrowed. Music examples
la and lb give the flavor of these workings and invite a question that
can seldom be answered with total confidence: how far, if at all, are
such similarities conscious and intentional, and how far the coincidental
use of stock figures?

anything in the style of something else: Telemann's remark smacks of the glibness that is
ineradicable from his music." A fairer assessment would be that, while Bach was content
to compose conventional French-style dances, Telemann was more innovative in that his
Polish-style dances actually preserve the rustic character of Polish folk dances.
The sources for TWV 44:11 are Dresden, Schsische Landes- und Universittsbiblio-
thek Dresden, Musikabteilung [D-Dlb], 2392-Q-14 (score) and 2392-Q-14a (parts). For
another occurrence of the F major subject see, for instance, Vivaldi's version quoted in
E. Selfridge-Field, Venetian Instrumental Music From Gabrieli to Vivaldi (New York:
Dover Publications, 1975; reprint, 1994), p. 259. Another shared fugue subject occurs in
the finale of Telemann's sonata for recorder, oboe, violin and continuo ( TWV 43:G6) and
the second movement of the Sinfonia Concertata by Antonio Caldara (Vienna, ster-
reichische Nationalbibliothek, E.M. 116), whose music Telemann had studied, according
to the autobiography published in Johann Mattheson, Grundlage einer Ehren-Pforte
(Hamburg, 1740; reprint, ed. Max Schneider, Kassel: Brenreiter-Verlag, 1969).
A good example is the two fugue subjects from the overture sections of TWV 55:h4 (for
violin and strings, D-Dlb, 2392-0-15) and TWV 55:g8 (for two violins and basso con-
tinuo, D-Dlb, 2392-0-41): the headmotives are virtually identical, the treatments com-
pletely different.

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 EVIDENCE OF BORROWING 45

Example la, Telemann, Sonata in F {TWV 44:1 1)/I

Example lb, Bach, Fughetta in F major (BWV 901)

The case for a musical link between the two com

strength as we turn to other possible instances of
stronger musical links with works by Bach are fou
tions by Telemann, one of them newly published. F
Minor, for two violins, two violas, and continuo {
dating from Telemann's periods at Eisenach (1708-
(1712-1721), shows signs of thematic relationsh
board Partita VI in E Minor {BWV 830);10 nex

10 The earliest source of BWV 830 is the Clavierbiichlein fr A

(1725).

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 46 BACH

E Major, for solo v

composed in the e
(1721-1740), display
certo in the same ke
first movement of
probably oboe), str
only unequivocal e
known to the autho
and harmonic material with the slow movement from Bach's Concerto
in F Minor for harpsichord, strings, and continuo ( BWV 1056).

The Telemann-Bach Connection via Eisenach and Weimar,

c. 1708-c. 1714

Telemann's acquaintance with Bach is well documented. It dates

back to Telemann's period at Eisenach (1708-1712) where he worked
with Pantaleon Hebenstreit, a fine violinist and leader of the court or-
chestra, at a time when both composers were fashioning a new German
concerto from Italian models. Telemann himself has left us a vivid pic-
ture of his own activities as a soloist in such works:

I remember Herr Hebenstreit' s considerable skill on

the violin, which surely placed him in the forefront of
all other masters of that instrument; it was such that a
few days before we were to play a concerto together I
always locked myself in my room, fiddle in hand,
shirt-sleeves rolled up, with something strong to oil
my nerves, and gave myself lessons so that I could
measure up to his dexterity. And mark you! it helped
greatly towards my betterment. 13

It is probable that many of Telemann's early concerted violin

works were composed during this period, though only two double con-
certos - Kross 2V.G(1)14 and 2V.e15 - are datable with any accuracy,

11 The Darmstadt text of Kross V.E (D-DS, Mus. ms 1033/64) is published in Georg
Philipp Telemann : Musikalische Werke , XXIII, ed. Siegfried Kross (Kassel: Brenreiter,
1989), but an edition taking account of another source (Rostock, Universittsbibliothek
[D-ROu], Mus. Saec. XVII. 18.51.38), recently identified by Steven Zohn, is in prepara-
tion for SUTE.
12 D-ROu, Mus. Saec. XVII. 18.45.16; reconstruction forthcoming in SUTE.
From Telemann's 1740 autobiography (see above, note 8); quoted from Richard
Petzoldt, Georg Philipp Telemann , trans. Horace Fitzpatrick (London: E. Benn, 1974),
pp. 27-28.
14 The Dresden source is Mus. 2392-0-35a and 35b. According to Ortrun Landmann,
Die Telemann-Quellen der Schsischen Landesbibliothek (Dresden, 1983), IV, p. 124,

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 EVIDENCE OF BORROWING 47

their Dresden sources being dated about 1709 and 1

tively.

While Telemann was at Eisenach composing some of the first con-

certos ever written by a native German composer, Bach was at Weimar
(1708-1717) where, between 1709 and 1713-1714, he certainly en-
countered at least two concertos by Telemann:16 the double violin con-
certo (Kross 2V.G(1)) mentioned above, of which Bach copied per-
forming parts jointly with an unidentified copyist probably active in
Dresden or Weimar (this was probably done early in 1709), 17 and the G
minor solo violin concerto (Kross V.g), which he arranged as a key-
board solo (BWV 985) probably sometime between July 1713 and July

Bach copied portions of set 35a. See also Hans-Joachim Schulze, "Telemann-Pisendel-
Bach: Zu einem unbekannten Bach-Autograph" in Die Bedeutung Georg Philipp Tele-
manns fr die Entwicklung der europischen Musikkultur im 18. Jahrhundert. Bericht
ber die Internationale Wissenschaftliche Konferenz anlliche der Georg-Philipp-
Telemann-Ehrung der DDR , Magdeburg 12. bis 18. Mrz 1981 (Magdeburg, 1983), II,
pp. 73-7. (It is worth pointing out here that the opening six-part Grave bears some re-
semblance to the opening bars of the Adagio from Albinoni's Sonata in A minor for
violin and continuo, realized by H. N. Gerber, corrected by his teacher J. S. Bach, and
printed in Spitta, Johann Sebastian Bach, III, pp. 394-395.)
15 The Dresden source is Mus. 2392-0-56, and can be dated accurately by the musicians
named in the parts. See M. Fechner, "Bemerkungen zu einigen Dresdener Telemann-
Quellen," Die Bedeutung Georg Philipp Telemanns (above, note 14), II, p. 80. For a
brief discussion of sources and dating see the introduction to my edition in SUTE 43.
(The names are listed in Landmann, Die Telemann-Quellen IV, p. 124, but the accurate
dating is Fechner's.)
The evidence for the transmission of Telemann's orchestral music to Weimar is im-
pressive, and has recently been reviewed in Zohn, (The "Ensemble Sonatas," p. 45 note
30), who points out that J. S. Bach's cousin, Johann Gottfried Walther (1684-1748;
Eisenach town organist), made organ arrangements of Telemann's concertos for violin,
for violin and oboe, and of the fourth movement of the E major overture (TWV 55:E2, D-
DS, Mus. ms. 1034/96) for oboe d'amore and strings. Another firm musical connection
with the Bach family is provided by the careful transcription for keyboard, by J. S.
Bach's eldest brother and first keyboard teacher Johann Christoph Bach (1671-1721) of
Ohrdruf, of Telemann's overture TWV 55:Es4. The transcription {TWV Anh. 32:1) is
preserved in a manuscript known as the "Andreas Bach Book" (Leipzig Stdtische Bib-
liotheken, Musikabteilung, III. 8.4., fols 26-30) copied between c. 1708 and c. 1713 from
a good (possibly autograph) source, since lost, attributed to "Mr. Melante." (See Key-
board Music from the Andreas Bach Book and the Mller Manuscript, ed. R. Hill
(Cambridge, Mass: Harvard Publications in Music 16, 1991), pp. xxi-xxiii and 1 73-
186.) The missing "Melante" exemplar may antedate the two extant complete orchestral
sources (D-DS, Mus. ms. 1034/33 and Schwerin, Mecklenburgishe Landesbibliothek [D-
SW1], Mus. 5399/4, dated c. 1726 and c. 1730 respectively), for it transmits some supe-
rior readings. TWV 55:Es4 appears to be one of Telemann's earliest surviving orchestral
suites - possibly from as early as 1712, the first recorded use by Telemann of the "Mel-
ante" anagram (see Zohn, "Music Paper at the Dresden Court," p. 6, note 15; and my
critical edition in SUTE 78).
17 Bach's autograph parts for Kross 2V. G(l) are D-Dlb, Mus. 2392-0-3 5a; the sug-
gested date is from Schulze, "Telemann-Pisendel-Bach," II, p. 73.

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 48 BACH

17 14. 18 1 shall argue

certos of the two men
of the musical evidenc
ble and keyboard work

Telemann's Sonata in
Partita in E Minor (

TWV 44:5 is preserve

hann Samuel Endler
stadt court from Janu
from 1740 until his d
extant works for five
actually served the Da
throughout his life, a
shortly before transfe
zig collegium musicu
(probably until 1705)
lific Darmstadt copy
manuscripts have be
1723), middle (c. 1723
writing evidence. TWV
manuscripts copied in
suggested, may "reflec
1723, the year Endler
stadt. Although this
composed while Telem
style generally sugges
Frankfurt. 19

The musical style of TWV 44:5 supports the terminus ad quern

(1723) suggested by the palaeographic evidence. It is an austere sonata
da chiesa in four movements, in which the main musical weight is re-
served for the two long fugai Allegros. Despite some expressive

18 D-DS, Mus. ins. 1033/91; D-Dlb, Mus. 2392-0-17a and 17b. The suggested dates of
Bach's arrangement are from H.-J. Schulze, "J. S. Bach's Concerto-Arrangements for
Organ: Studies or Commissioned Works?" Organ Yearbook , III (1972), pp. 4-12. There
is evidence that Bach may have arranged another Telemann concerto (?now lost), for an
entry in an Erfurt auction catalogue dated 1810 reads: "Telemann, Concerto appropriato
all'organo di J. S. Bach, f-dur, geschr." (See Kirsten Beiwenger, Johann Sebastian
Bachs Notenbibliothek (Kassel: Brenreiter, 1992), pp. 69, 378-379.)
19 The information on Endler in this paragraph is taken from S. Zohn, "The Ensemble
Sonatas," p. 539. Endler's handwriting was first classified in three stages by B. Stewart,
in an unpublished study (1988-1989) conducted with Dr. Oswald Bill of Darmstadt, of
copyists' hands and paper-types in the Darmstadt Telemann Collection.

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 EVIDENCE OF BORROWING 49

suspensions in the Grave third movement, there is

attempt to imitate, much less integrate, typical Ital
Rather, the composer seems to have followed Germ
dense, dark-hued polyphony in the fugai movement
sonata texture, with prominent violin parts and vi
for the slower ones. TWV 44:5 shows some evide
(for example, the rythmes saccads of the opening
affected the young composer in his early days (1
and the last movement is an extended triple-time fu
rial commonly used in the French overtures of fin
composers, some of which, by his own admission,
timately.20

Although this work shares an overall mood with some other Tele-
mann and Bach compositions in the same key, it is the second fugai
Allegro that sounds most like J. S. Bach. There Telemann's thematic
material strongly resembles that employed by Bach in the opening Pre-
lude (later called Toccata) of his keyboard Partita VI in E Minor (see
examples 2 a/b).

20 According to the autobiography that Telemann supplied for Mattheson's Grosse Gen-
eral-Ba-Schule (Hamburg, 1731), p. 174, during this period of service to the Franco-
phile Count Erdmann von Promnitz, he procured works by Lully and Campra "and other
good authors" ( Ich wurde des Lulli, Campra, und anderer auten Autoren Arbeit hab-
hafft), and claims to have studied them deeply and with success. There may indeed be
passing references to Lully in his early Trio alla Francese (TWV 42:d 11, transcribed in
Zohn, "The Ensemble Sonatas," pp. 683-698, and discussed in his recent article, "New
Light on Quantz's Advocacy of Telemann's Music," Early Music , XXV (1997): 441-
461: the fugato subject of the opening Gravement and the first two bars of the Menuet
respectively resemble the Overture fugato and the Menuet from Lully's incidental music
to Molire's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (1670). One wonders whether von Promnitz's
court enjoyed musical performances of Molire's plays, for the opening phrase of Tele-
mann's overture in E minor (TWV 55:el) from the second "Production" of the Musique
de table (1733) is uncannily similar to that from Marc-Antoine Charpentier's overture to
his incidental music (c. 1695) to Molire's Le Sicilien. I have been unable to trace any
documented German performance of Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme ; readers will judge for
themselves whether any of this original French material is so distinctive as to make it a
likely object of Telemann's borrowing, particularly if he had heard it twenty-five years
earlier at Sorau.

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50 BACH

Example 2a, Telemann

Example 2b, Bach, Part

VI), Prelude, bar

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 EVIDENCE OF BORROWING 5 1

If the two composers' subjects are similar (exampl

their contrapuntal techniques are completely differen
zer criticized some of Bach's early music for its "
"rambling counterpoint," and a lack of "concise them
mann's main subject is, in fact, the more extended of
lenting eighth-notes culminating in an anachronistic m
relation with the second subject (or first countersubje
This double fugue features a rigidly strict exposition
avoids melodic and harmonic variety, and it is hard
miliar only with the polished "mixed taste" of Musiqu
"Paris" Quartets23 to appreciate fully this drier, mor
Telemann's style. Bach's treatment of the subject see
than Telemann's: a single fugue, effectively in three
varied texture and key structure, and eighth- and sixt
loosely derived from the eighth- and sixteenth-note
spread between the French-overture-style interjectio
section. Bach's Partita VI was included in the first p
bung (Leipzig, 1731), but since he had complet
above, note 10), and TWV 44:5 had already been copi
possible that Telemann's composition antedated B
least, these dates place both works sufficiently close
Bach knew and copied some of Telemann's music.

Two E-Major Violin Concertos

We turn now to connections of a subtler but no le

Bach's Concerto in E Major for solo violin, strings, a
1042) is one of his most popular instrumental works,
(especially in notes to sound recordings) constantly p
ranean" warmth and the romantic qualities of its slo
his A Minor solo and D Minor double violin concertos - which were
once dated to the period 1717-1723 when Bach directed the court or-
chestra at Cthen but are now thought to be more progressive works
possibly composed at Leipzig - it follows the Vivaldian three-
movement plan. Unfortunately, because it has been transmitted only in a

21 Indeed, this is not the only possible association between Telemann and Bach's E minor
partita: an unusual passage in the latter's Tempo di Gavotta, bars 3-5, may be echoed in
an early Telemann flute sonata, TWV 41:el0 (B-Bc, 15.1 15 Ms. M, pp. 196-201, second
movement, bars 1-4).
22 Manfred Bukofzer, Music in the Baroque Era from Monteverdi to Bach (New York:
W. W. Norton, 1947; London, 1948), pp. 272-273. Many of this author's assessments
(especially that of Telemann) stand in need of revision in the light of recent research.
For Musique de table see above, note 4; the twelve "Paris" Quartets are in Quadri
(Hamburg, 1730; R/Paris, 1736-1737) and Nouveaux Quatuors en six suites (Paris,
1738).

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52 BACH

non-autograph, post-
one hand, given the n
minor and D-minor c
Major piece belongs
other hand, Christop
design and extent of
tos "maturity of wri
nificantly from its c

Bach's E-Major conce

its A-minor companio
of important musica
the same key (Kross
four-movement sona
effective solo concer
string accompanimen
of a set of parts co
important Darmstadt
of Wrttemberg pro
Steven Zohn at Rosto
transmits a superior
certos were probabl
was almost certainly
was copied by Graup
ence of lombardic rh
feature them is his th

24 See Christoph Wolf

(1985): 165-1 75 in partic
Chronologie der Konzerte
achtzigsten Geburtstag, e
1720. More recently, M. G
ger Quellen erhaltenen O
XLVII (1994): 17-24, has ar
date for the piece. (I am gr
The information on Graup
manuscript dates he pro
Rostock source (Mus. Saec
indebted to him for callin
accurate version of the ba
apparently corrupt) and ex
ner's unfigured part, a see
(Graupner apparently foll
cello, as his "violone" par
trived oboe parts.

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 EVIDENCE OF BORROWING 53

Hamburg in 1725) strongly supports this.26 M

ritornello dialogue suggests the hand of the exp
poser, and the aria-like solo writing in the third m
dissimilar to the B-major aria, "Nimm mich hin,"
of his comic opera, Der geduldige Socrates , perfo
1721) confirms the concerto's operatic credentials.

The first and most important musical similarity

and Telemann concertos occurs in their finales wh
ences in form (Bach employs a simple rondo form
mann, a freer ritornello structure in 6/8), their melo
by alternating slow and fast harmonic rhythms e
dominant, have much in common. (See examples 3

Example 3a, Telemann, Violin Concerto in E (Kross

26 See Wolff Hobohm, "Zum lombardischen Rhythmus bei Te

Georg Phillip Telemanns fr die Entwicklung der europis
Jahrhundert (Magdeburg, 1983), III, p. 12.

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 54 BACH

Example 3b, Bach, Violin Concerto in E (BWV 1042)/III, bars 1-9

Is it possible that Bach, after an early taste of his contemporary's

more galant style, is anticipating in the present work the more in-depth
exploration of the style he was to employ in the 1730s? Common fea-
tures such as the similarity between the two consequent phrases in con-
tinuous paired sixteenth-notes - first rising, then falling dramatically to
the dominant, touching on the dominant-of-the-dominant in passing -
and the clear cut periodicity of regularly balanced phrases so typical of
the style galant are surely significant. Moreover, Telemann's antece-
dent phrase subtly resembles Bach's in that it finds firm harmonic basis
in two simple tonic-dominant chords; and not only is the closing
cadence-formula of Telemann's two framing ritornelli virtually identi-
cal with Bach's, but the harmonic progressions of the two passages are
very similar. (See examples 4a and 4b.)

Example 4a, Telemann, Violin Concerto in E/IV, bars 13-14

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 EVIDENCE OF BORROWING 55

Example 4b, Bach, Violin Concerto in E/III, bar

The other significant connection between the

Bach's opening Allegro seems to refer to two
mann's last movement. First, both initial solo the
lodic and harmonic material. (See examples 5a and

Example 5a, Telemann, Violin Concerto in E/IV,

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56 BACH

Example 5b, Bach,

(ripieno string part

Second, the modula

Fortspinnung port
first movement is
equivalent place (b
similarities, both fa
of their composers
more polished than
galant clarity and s
harmonic complexit
he saturates the text
rived from the Vor
light, readers should
would suggest that
evidence (concernin
by scholars in the pa

27 Telemann's ritornelli
tition of material to be
(ABACA) in the finale o
rondos of Bach and other
28 See, for example, the
George Allen & Unwin
debted" to the Violin
Vivaldi (1678-1741): in f
three-note triadic figure a

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 EVIDENCE OF BORROWING 57

What, then, is the temporal relationship of the

follow Telemann? Or is it possible that Telemann
sition before c. 1726 and incorporated element
work? On grounds of style, it seems unlikely tha
was composed prior to the early to mid- 1720s. T
Rostock source cannot be identified more precise
period c. 1716-1731; but the date of 1726-1730 fo
the Telemann, together with Christoph Wolff s
c. 1730 for the Bach, certainly does not rule out
mann's 1709 role as Bach's model, though we
mann's work was composed first. On the other h
Handel, was very sensitive to other composers' st
that Bach influenced Telemann is also possible
work can be dated with sufficient accuracy to set
roughly similar dates, and the fact that Bach is
one Telemann concerto and arranged another - w
dence of the reverse process - suggest that T
though cynics will rightly point out that "absen
evidence of absence."

Two Early Woodwind Concertos: Kross Fl.G(l) and an early

version of BWV 1056

We come finally to the locus classicus of Bach-Telemann borrow-

ings. Among the small but significant collection of Telemann manu-
scripts preserved at Rostock University Library is a set of parts of a
"Concerto / [] 1 [Flauto] Traversiere [sic] / 2 Violino [sic] / 1 Viola /
et Cembalo" attributed to "Teleman[n]" and listed as Fl.G(l) in Kross's
catalogue.30 Interestingly, the solo part is headed "Hautbois vel Traver-
siere," indicating either a genuine original option as to the choice of
solo instrument, or that the copyist was uncertain - or even that the
piece was originally for oboe and was later dedicated to the flute in its
Wrttemberg environment. The source is in a very poor condition,

29 See, for instance, in the field of concerto style, the Albinoni-like first movement of the
ripieno sonata, TWV 43:G9, the forceful Vivaldian all'unisono ritornello theme from the
first movement of the concerto in E minor for flute and violin (Kross Fl.V.e), his mas-
terly absorption of the same Venetian master's thematic and harmonic style, and his
orchestral sounds and textures in the sparkling D Major Concerto for two flutes, violin
and cello (Kross 2 Fl. V. Ve. D). The respective sources are: D-DS, Mus. ms. 1042/4; D-
DS, Mus. ms. 1033/21, D-SWl, Mus. 5400/7, D-ROu, Mus. Saec. XVII. 18.14.15; and
D-DS, Mus. ms. 1033/15.
For the source, see above, note 12. For a note on the discovery, see Ian Payne, 'New
Light on Telemann and Bach: Double Measures," The Musical Times , 139 (Winter
1998): 44-45; for a detailed study see Steven Zohn and Ian Payne, "Bach, Telemann, and
the Process of Transformative Imitation in BWV 1056/2 (156/1)," forthcoming.

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 58 BACH

owing to the action of acidic ink on thin paper. But Kross was wrong to
state in his catalogue that the bass part is lacking (Ba fehlt):3X two
fragmentary pages survive, transmitting large portions of the basso
continuo, although some material is lost and much of what does survive
is barely legible. As examples 6a and 6b make very clear, the first two
complete bars of Telemann's opening Andante are virtually identical in
melody, harmony and texture with those of the middle movement of the
F Minor concerto (BWV 1056).

Example 6a, Telemann, Flute or Oboe Concerto in G major

(Kross F1.G(1))/I, bars 1-3

Example 6b, Bach, Harpsichord Concerto in F minor (BWV 1056)/II, bars 1-3
(Original key, A-flat major transposed by the author into G major
for comparison with Ex. 6a).

The genesis of Bach's slow movement is complex and this, to-

gether with a detailed exploration of the close relationship that exists
between complete movements, is the subject of a separate study.32 The
harpsichord-concerto version is quoted here because this is the version
known by most readers; but it survives in an earlier version that is much
closer to Telemann's original melodic material (the Sinfonia in F major,

31 Kross, p. 127.
32 See Zohn and Payne, "Telemann and the Slow Concerto Movement."

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 EVIDENCE OF BORROWING 59

scored for oboe and "arco" strings, from the 1729 c

einem Fu im Grabe") and most probably originat
movement within a D-minor oboe concerto33 -
correct, would strengthen the present writer's conv
originally wrote for oboe. (It may even have been
in Telemann' s key of G major, but the extant sou
evidence for this.34) A composition date between
1720s for the Telemann is likely on musical groun
encountered this work, like Kross 2V.G(1) and V
(1708-17). Beyond that point the evidence will not

Borrowing and Self-Borrowing as a Compositio

Perhaps I should now clarify precisely the two

cal relationship that I believe are implied by the h
the foregoing discussion and consider the importa
the wider context of compositional technique. R
served that the examples discussed above differ as
their similarities. The Rostock concerto is clearly
own, for there we find direct borrowing en bloc. In
cussed, the connection is less specific and extensiv
teresting that both degrees of relationship are enco
the music of Bach. A good example is provided by
( BWV 103 1) for flute and obbligato harpsichord att
which borrows material from the Trio Sonata i
Johann Joachim Quantz (1 697-1 773).35 For th
Telemann links, however, where the borrowing is
phrase or harmonic progression, I am not arguing f
or systematic as this. Rather, such non-structural b
to the type identified by Jeanne Swack where, fo
rowed the first solo theme from the first moveme
Sonata and used it as the opening idea in the secon
great Trio Sonata in C Minor from the Musika
1079, composed in 1747). The borrowing of a s
evidently less conclusive than cases where other str
used as well, though Swack convincingly explores
Bach not only borrowed this headmotif from Quan

33 Joshua Rifkin, "Ein langsamer Konzertsatz Johann Sebastian

64(1978): 140-147.
34 Bruce Haynes, "Johann Sebastian Bachs Oboenkonzerte," Bach-Jahrbuch 78 (1992):
23-43.
35 See Jeanne Swack, "Quantz and the Sonata in E-flat major for Flute and Cembalo,
BWV mX^Early Music XXIII/2 (1995): 31-53. (See especially the discussion at pp.
41-46, and the conclusion at p. 47.)

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60 BACH

set out to emulate Q

Telemann's very dif
and F-major fugue
and page 4, example
find their place in t
Bach, in his Musik
from Quantz as a ge

Telemann's music
borrowing, where a
or similar harmony.
subtle thematic rela
certos and orchestr
(2)) and ripieno con
the first two movem
last movements of t
featuring a prominen

Example 7, Telemann,
I, bars 102; (b) III, bar

Telemann, Violin Co
(Other parts are

36 "Quantz and the Sonat

Sometimes, in the orch
monic progressions, but
practice in the concertos.
38 The relevant source
ms. 1042/47 (7W43:a5)

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 EVIDENCE OF BORROWING 6 1

These works have several other suggestive featur

most striking of which is the use of the rare and h
chord to decorate a dominant pedal.39

Finally, in the ripieno work, the subject of the f

accompanied fugue) is identical to that of the secon
concerto in E minor for flute, recorder, strings a
BlFl.Fl.e), and of the solo oboe sonata in the sam
published as Solo XI in Telemann's last publicat
imposed retirement in October 1740.40

In addition to the use of simple intervals and h

movements, self-borrowing within the same movem
Telemann's approach to composition for he became
blocks or modules of melodic and harmonic materia
movement. Jeanne Swack, in a penetrating study
identifies this feature (which she calls "permutati
major weapon in the composer's compositional a
the Hamburg sonatas.41 It is likely that the transf
between works should be seen as an extension of t
music is, of course, highly formulaic and sequenti
preoccupation is not just with stock cadential and
sions or, for that matter, the stylized melodic figu
were the lingua franca of Baroque dance-forms an
of all late Baroque composers. Rather, he reworked
transitional ideas that, presumably, he felt were t
only once or twice or that could be useful structura

A good example is the following, taken from tw

untitled ripieno concerto ( TWV 43:B2) and an early
41:B8). Telemann's authorship of the concerto
c. 1725-1730, is beyond question; that of the so
lenged on the grounds of style.42 My personal view

39 Compare Kross V.a(2)/i bars 5-1 1 and rfT43:a5/iv bars 4

Kross V.a(2)/ii and TWV 43:a5/iii (Allegro) suggests other sim
usual cadential clich in both triple-time movements, use of seq
and melodic motifs.
40 The relevant sources are: (Kross BlFl.+Fl.e) D-DS, Mus.
41 :e6) Essercizii Musici (Hamburg, 1739/40).
41 Jeanne Swack, "The Solo Sonatas of George Philipp Telemann
and Musical Style" (diss., Yale U., 1988), pp. 103-17.
The relevant sources are D-Dlb, Mus. 2392-Q-16 (TWV 4
10353, no. 12. For the argument against Telemann's authors
Sonatas," p. 237. One of the objections raised is that the

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 62 BACH

compose it, and I think the following apparent self-borrowing supports

this view. (See examples 8a and 8b.)

Example 8a, Telemann, Concerto in B-flat {TWV 43:B2)/III, bars 11-13

Example 8b, Telemann, Sonata in B-flat ( TWV 41 :B8)/IV, bars 22-24

To cover Telemann's self-borrowings in detail would require much

research; and many instances doubtless remain undiscovered, but I cite
a few more examples below, which the interested reader may wish to
follow up.43 They show that, even within the same movement, Telemann
will freely transpose (often literally) passages for insertion elsewhere in

movements are untypical of the composer. This is true; but Telemann did write such
movements, of which the finale of TWV 43:B2, quoted in ex. 9a, is a perfect example.
43 Two examples are cited above, notes 4 and 37. Further examples of reworked material,
all sharing the same key, are in the following pairs of early works: bass progression,
cadence figure and violin figuration in TWV 43: A4 (SUTE 49), last movement, bars 10-
15, and Kross V.A (SUTE 31), last movement, bars 69-74; similar modulatory sequence
in A and G in TWV 55:h3 (SUTE 77), overture, bars 4-9 and TWV 55:h4 (SUTE 56),
overture, bars 4-10; abrupt modulatory sequences using seventh chords in TWV 43:G12
(SUTE 21), third movement, bars 9-13, and TWV 55:G1 (SUTE 80), overture, bars 57-
63. Two examples in different keys are: sequential contrapuntal treatments of melody
and bass in TWV 55:G7 (SUTE 81), overture, 34-39 and TWV 55:e4 (SUTE 76),
overture, bars 38-43; abrupt modulations using third inversion seventh chords in TWV
55:G1 (SUTE 80), overture, bars 9-1 1 and TWV 55:a2 {Suite in A minor, ed. H. Bttner,
Edition Eulenburg, 882 [London, n.d.], p. 13), overture, bars 163-165.

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 EVIDENCE OF BORROWING 63

that movement, in both closed dance-forms and

certo movements. His self-borrowing from othe
good company with regard to reusing material:
openly reused entire movements; and both clearly
the work of others.

Telemann the self-borrower was very fond of

harmonic ideas without changing the key of the
significant that all the putative Telemann-Bach
above (except probably the two oboe concerto
same key. Telemann's working-out and devel
hardly ever as thoroughgoing or intense as Bach
some of his published works), though whether th
dent or design is an open question. That Bach ad
mann's concertos is also firmly established and,
of one man's ideas by another is always open to
tion by scholars, the examples cited above stron
admiration for his friend's music extended beyo
making copies of complete works for study or pe
sion, therefore, I submit that the borrowing sh
vides indisputable evidence that Bach reworked
which he may have been attracted by (among oth
of its musical invention and its potential for elab
collective weight of the other examples cited, fur
that Bach deliberately borrowed material from Te
subjected to his own compositional processes.

44 Zohn and Payne, "Bach, Telemann, and the Process of Tr

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 64 BACH

ABBREVIATIONS

B-Bc Brussels, Bibliothque du Conservatoire Royal de

Musique
D-B Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Musikabteilung mit Men-
delssohn-Archiv
D-DS Darmstadt, Hessische Landes- und Hochschule-
bibliothek, Musikabteilung
D-Dlb Dresden, Schsische Landes- und Universittsbiblio-
thek Dresden, Musikabteilung
D-ROu Rostock, Universittsbibliothek
D-SW1 Schwerin, Mecklenburgische Landesbibliothek
Kross Thematic catalogue of Telemann's solo concertos
appended to Siegfried Kross, Das Instrumental-
konzert bei Georg Philipp Telemann (Tutzing: Hans
Schneider, 1969), pp. 121-172
New Grove The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians,
ed. Stanley Sadie, 20 vols. (London: MacMillan,
1980)
SUTE Severinus Urtext Telemann Edition, ed. I. Payne
(Thesaurus Harmonicus, an imprint of Severinus
Press, Hereford, UK)
TWV 43-50 Georg Philipp Telemann: Thematisch-Systematisches
Verzeichnis seiner Werke : Instrumentalwerke II , ed.
Martin Ruhnke (Kassel: Brenreiter, 1992)
TWV 55 See the complete listing in Adolf Hoffmann, Die Or-
chestersuiten Georg Philipp Telemanns: TWV 55,
(Wolfenbttel: Mseler, 1969), pp. 79-183.

I am grateful to Dr. Zohn, who read several drafts of this article

and made numerous helpful suggestions with unfailing generosity, and
to Professor Christoph Wolff, for answering my Bach queries. Thanks
are due also to Dr. Oswald Bill, Dr. Karl Wilhelm Geck, Frau Barbara
Linnert and Dr. Helmut Hell, respectively directors of the musical col-
lections at the Hessische Landes- und Hochschulbibliothek, Darmstadt,
the Schsische Landes- und Universittsbibliothek, Dresden, the Uni-
versittsbibliothek, Rostock, and the Berlin Staatsbibliothek for their
exemplary help in making available manuscript material.

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