Concerto per la Chiesa del Signor Telemann (G Major)

Transcription of an unknown concerto by Telemann. The phrase "per la Chiesa" means "for the church". I'm not sure of the reason for this designation, perhaps it is due to the more conservative nature of the work and relative lack of flashy virtuosic passages. In any event, this concerto is in four movements for manuals and pedal throughout.

The opening movement is a 4-voice fugue. This is followed by a movement without tempo designation indicating that two manuals are required. It is an organ trio featuring a very pleasant theme. The only professional recording I own of this piece takes it at a much faster tempo, but I have chosen a more leisurely pace, more of an andante, so that the beauty of the interplay between the individual lines could be enjoyed. The third movement also lacks a tempo designation. The first half of the movement features manuals-only passages alternating between Oberwerk and Rückwerk, before finally remaining on the Oberwerk as the pedals enter for the last half of the piece. The work concludes with a movement in 3/8 time that alternates between manuals-only passages on a secondary manual and passages on the main manual with pedal with plenty of hemiolas ;-)