New video: Violinist Tomás Cotik performs Telemann Fantasia no. 7 in E-flat Major

Following his recording of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin in 2020, Cotik has embarked on a journey recording Telemann’s 12 Fantasias for Solo Violin, out today on Centaur.

’Building on the stylistic principles I applied to my rendition of Bach’s works, I considered information from treatises by Mattheson, Kimberger, Quantz, Leopold Mozart, Muffat, Couperin, and C.P.E. Bach for my interpretation of Telemann’s fantasies. The Baroque and the mixed, international “Gallant” styles overlapped in time. Composed only 15 years after Bach’s solo violin works, this opus shows traces of the Sonata da Chiesa and the Sonata da Camera, yet has a different idiom and style,

’I find these 12 Fantasies, with their total of 44 fleeting movements, a collection brought to life by the emotions of its arias, the effusive physical drive and momentum of the fast movements, and the whirlwind virtuosity of its rustic folkdance-inspired movements.

’The juxtaposition of strong, theatrical gestures that contrast with enlightened simplicity, impetuous changes of tension and release, and stagnant-versus-forward motions ignite the imagination. Single voice and literal polyphony create illusions, giving the listener clues to follow different possible solutions to the puzzle of performing multiple voices with one single melodic instrument.’