Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), who is considered one of the most prolific composers in Western music, was born in Magdeburg, which was part of the Electorate of Brandenburg. Like most composers of the Baroque era, he received his first musical training by learning to play the organ at a local church. In 1701 he enrolled at Leipzig University to study law, but he soon began composing works for several of Leipzig’s Lutheran churches. After a brief stint in Eisenach, Telemann moved to Frankfurt am Main in 1712, where he became music director for two of the city’s main churches. A highly productive and successful composer, Telemann wrote music for churches and civic ceremonies as well as for ensembles and individual musicians. In 1721, he moved to Hamburg, where he was appointed cantor of the famous Johanneum Latin School and music director of the city’s five major churches. He was to spend the rest of this life in Hamburg and shape the city’s musical culture.

This excerpt is from Telemann’s comic opera Pimpione, which had its premiere in Hamburg in 1725. Its full title is Die Ungleiche Heirat zwischen Vespetta und Pimpinone oder Das herrschsüchtige Camer Mägden (The Unequal Marriage Between Vespetta and Pimpinone or The Domineering Chambermaid). As the title suggests, it tells the story of a scheming chambermaid who marries her much older employer and subsequently dominates him. The libretto was written by Johann Philipp Praetorius. Pimpione was composed as a “comic intermezzo” that was performed between two acts of a “serious” opera. It was very successful and helped popularize the intermezzo as a genre.