Search - Georg Philipp Telemann, Michael Schneider, Frankfurt La Stagione Orchestra :: Georg Philipp Telemann: Funeral Music for Garlieb Sillem

Music To Die For

John Middleton | Auckland, NZ | 03/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Long ago the mayor of Hamburg was one Garlieb Sillem. Hardly a household name today (though of course, I can't speak for the Hamburgers themselves, as I live a world away in New Zealand), but at the time a most famous and honoured gentleman.



Mr. Sillem died at the end of 1732, prompting Telemann to write his memorable funeral music - "Schwanengesang 1733" (Swansong). Interestingly the text he set was penned my none other than Mr. Sillem himself; thus the title. Telemann's tribute to the late mayor was very much admired at the time, and was repeated later on in public concerts. During his long life Telemann managed to outlive a further eight Hamburg mayors, composing similar works for them all.



Througout the work in question Telemann employs the unusual effect of muted trumpets, giving a unique quality. A stately and moving Sinfonia sets the scene wonderfully, and the following chorales, recits and arias hold the attention with their variety and quality. The impressive bass (Gotthold Schwarz) gets the lion's share of solos, but all the soloists have their moments of glory and are first rate. They are each matched up with one other singer for the choruses which creates a pure and clear sound.



The canata on the same disc is equally rewarding. Top marks too to Michael Schneider and his Frankfurt orchestra."

In Memorium: Edward Kennedy

Giordano Bruno | Wherever I am, I am. | 10/02/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are too fanatical in ideology to mourn the recent death of a devoted public servant, a passionate advocate for the welfare of his community and especially for its health care, then you'd better not listen to this elegy for a Great Human Being! That human being was Garlieb Sillem, the long-term Mayor of Hamburg, remembered by later generations especially for his advocacy of public sanitation, who died in 1732. Eight days after his death, he was "interred in St. Peter's Church in Hamburg: the cortege was distinguished and very large, there were 420 pairs of the most eminent businessmen and citizens in attendance, not counting the scholars, clergymen, and mourners, and the funeral music was exceptional."



The funeral music was the 20-movement cantata recorded here, which Telemann almost certainly wrote and rehearsed in eight days or less. The libretto, however, was ready in advance. It was written by Garlieb Sillem himself, as his Schwanengesang (Swansong), in full foreknowledge of his imminent death. Sillem was determined that his exequies would not include the kind of fulsome tributes, overblown and possibly hypocritical, that were common at the funerals of important citizens. The poetic text - Sillem was a scholar as well as a politician - is a touching confession of the author's fear of death and dread of Judgement, of his confidence in Divine forgiveness, of his affection for his family and his fellow citizens, and of his hopes for the lasting prosperity and security of his beloved city Hamburg. It must have been a profoundly emotional experience for those who had known Sillem to hear his words sung, as it were, from the Afterlife. And it compels me, just now, to think of Senator Ted Kennedy's devotion to his country, to stay the course toward health care for all Americans even while he was dying of brain cancer. Kennedy's declared choice of a "mission" church in an impoverished neighborhood of Boston for his public funeral is exactly the kind of 'statement' Garlieb Sillem intended. It's meaningful to me, by the way, that there are known descendants of Mayor Sillem living in Hamburg today.



Telemann knew Sillem well, of course, and his music for the funeral must express his perceptions of the man's individual integrity. It begins with a slow processional sinfonia, music of delicate sorrow and consolation. (If I, Giordano Bruno, had not been dead lo these 409 years, I'd choose this sinfonia for my own cortege through the streets of Rome.) The chorales are Telemann's settings of standard Lutheran hymns, but all the arias and accompanied recitativos are Sillem's swansong text, sung SATB soloist: Barbara Schlick, Mechthild Georg, Cristoph Pregardien, and Gotthold Schwarz. The soloists are doubled in 'ripieno' fashion on the choral movements, making those movements exceptionally tight and clear in ensemble. The singing could hardly be better. The orchestra of La Stagione for this performance includes full strings, lute, organ, harpsichord, trumpets, oboes,flute, bassoon, and timpani, a rich triumphant-sounding ensemble to proclaim not so much Sillem's death but his expected Resurrection. This is a cantata where you WILL want to follow the text, and fortunately the text is included both in Sillem's German and in English translation.



The second cantata on this CD "Herr, strafe mich night in deinem Zorn - Lord, punish me not in thy wrath" was written in the 1720s in fulfillment of a promise to the city of Frankfurt to send music there as part of his release from his contracted duties so that he could accept his new job in Hamburg. Telemann must have been happy with this composition, since there are records of his performing it in Hamburg also, in 1723, 1725, and 1727. The text links it to the liturgy of the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity. The gospel lesson for that Sunday concerns a miracle of healing a paralytic, and the music is similar in affect to taht of the Schwanengesang of Garleib Sillem. This is one of the early Telemann cantatas that sounds most like the works of JS Bach, and to my ears it rivals anything the Cantor of Leipzig wrote in the same genre. Same soloists, same orchestra, and same conductor, Michael Schneider, on this 1993 recording of the highest artistry.



Another elegy is sadly required: "La Stagione" has been performing brilliant concerts in Frankfurt every year since the early 1990s, and has ranked as one of the best "historically informed" orchestras in Europe. This year, however, their performance season has been canceled, due to management and perhaps financial problems. Let's hope they can recover and continue!"