In friendship

The position of Leipzig’s Thomaskantor, for which Johann Sebastian Bach is so well known today, was a highly sought-after role during his time, and Bach attained it only through his good friend Georg Philipp Telemann. Telemann remained a close advisor to the Bach family until the end of his life and was the godfather of Carl Philipp Emanuel.

In addition to musical matters, Telemann exchanged ideas with Georg Friedrich Handel on gardening topics, while Francesco Geminiani, whom Handel would later meet in London, was receiving violin lessons from Arcangelo Corelli in Rome. Their mutual admiration and exchange are also reflected in the music of their contemporaries. For instance, J. S. Bach studied the music of Antonio Vivaldi in depth and integrated Vivaldi’s compositional techniques, among other things, into the vocal passages of his St. John and St. Matthew Passions.

This concert is a musical portrait of deep friendships and the intertwining of acquaintances among the most famous composers of the Baroque era.