Die Grenze erforschen. Zur Ausdrucks- und Kommunikationsweise der Hamburger und Pariser Quartette Telemanns

In the strong connection between the many-sided professional activity of Telemann as musician and the public sphere can be recognized an essential premise of the orientation of the German composer to the modern principles of incoming Enlightenment. Starting from some considerations on this aspect, this paper takes into account Telemann’s chamber music. It focuses on quartets, identifying, in Telemann’s compositions that belong to this genre and are similar concerning the style as "Quadri" (1730) and "Nouveaux Quartets" (1738), ‘strategies’ of musical expression that show little but significant differences. In this perspective, paying specific attention to these differences, it is possible to observe the ‘mixed taste’ of Telemann’s instrumental compositions not simply as a keystone for multiple and brilliant stylistic configurations, but also as a versatile communication medium. Telemann is able to use it in several ways, aiming to fascinate and persuade audiences with different backgrounds concerning musical aesthetics and taste like those of two major centers in the musical Europe of the first half of the 18th-century, such as Hamburg and Paris.