The Early Music Show - Telemann in Poland

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For just under a year, from 1705, Telemann was employed by Count Erdmann II of Promnitz in northern Poland. His tenure was cut dramatically short by developments in the Great Northern War, but during his time in Zary and Silesia, the composer came into contact with Polish folk music, which influenced him for the rest of his career.

When travelling through Poland with his employer, Telemann would often stop at taverns for refreshment or accommodation, and there he heard Polish gypsies improvising on fiddles, bagpipes and hurdy-gurdies - a music which is thought to have its roots on the Indian subcontinent.

Lucie Skeaping explores some of those original melodies in recordings from Ensemble Caprice, alongside some of the pieces Telemann composed with those Polish influences very much at the forefront of his mind.

Published on Sunday, 13th September 2020.

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