So höret meinen Gesang

Klopstock settings by G. Ph. Telemann & J. H. Rolle
Antje Rux, Susanne Lagner, Tobias Hunger, Ingold Seidel SATB, Leipziger Concert, Siegfried Pank
68:04
Raumklang RK3502
Rolle: David und Jonathan
Telemann: Komm Geist des Herrn TVWV 1:999, 2 extracts from Messias TVWV 6:4

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his CD has been a constant companion over the past few weeks; I simply cannot get over the imagination of the 78-year-old Telemann when setting these texts by Klopstock, which is as fresh and lively as ever it was. His Whitsun cantata, Komm Geist des Herrn, and his two extracts from Messiah date from the year Handel died, 1759 (Telemann was four years his senior and would live for another eight years!), are full of original sonorities and beautiful, almost rococo harmonic twists and turns; truly the music is marvellous. So to are the performances, with four excellent soloists and an equally impressive orchestra. In fact, such is the “modern” sound of the Telemann that I did not even realise that the last track on the disc was actually by Johann Heinrich Rolle, an “elegy” on the David and Jonathan story to soprano, tenor and orchestra. Now little known, Rolle in fact only lost out to C. P. E. Bach to become Telemann’s successor in Hamburg by a single vote! This short work (just under 12 minutes) clearly demonstrates why he was so highly thought of; again, the playing and singing contribute hugely to this impression. I hope that we will hear more Rolle (and, indeed, Georg Benda, and more Telemann!) from these musicians – this is a beautiful CD which I shall treasure for a long time.

Brian Clark