Sicilianischer Jahrgang (Full Score, hardback)

Telemann Sicilianischer Jahrgang (Full Score, hardback)

Following the principles of the edition, the volume contains a segment of 12 contiguous pieces of church music from a single cycle.  They are excerpted from the so-called “Sicilian Cycle” and consist of the compositions for the 7th – 18th Sundays after Trinity (except the 11th Sunday), the music for which is no longer extant) plus the feast of Michaelmas.  The pieces in the cycle reveal elements attributed to the music of southern Italy, which occur in at least one movement of each work.  Among these elements are pastoral instrumentation, with oboes and occasionally recorders, and the melodious writing of the arias, all embedded in a translucent texture.

The cycle was written for the ducal court in Eisenach, where Telemann was titular chapel-master.  It cannot be precisely dated, but the period of composition can be narrowed down between 1717 and 1721.  The underlying words, printed as an annual cycle in 1720, stem from the singer, instrumentalist and later Eisenach court secretary Johann Friedrich Helbig.  A Foreword and Critical Commentary provide information on the genesis, sources and reception of this very widely disseminated cycle.  Also included are facsimiles from the musical and textual sources and an edition of the underlying texts.

- Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767) Musical Works Volume 52