Georg Philipp Telemann

Ach, Seele, hungre, dürste, lechze

Cantata for Alto (Bass), 2 (C) recorders (Violins), and basso continuo
From "Fortsetzung des Harmonischen Gottesdienstes"
Edited by Franz Müller-Busch
Thorough bass arrangement by Eckhart Kuper

In late 1725, Georg Philipp Telemann published his annual collection of cantatas, "Harmonischer Gottes-Dienst." It was evidently a great success. At the end of 1731—almost exactly six years later—Telemann published the

Continuation / of /
the Harmonious / Divine Service; /
or / sacred / cantatas /
based on the customary Sunday and feast-day /
Gospels throughout the year; / ...

, which in turn contained 72 cantatas for all Sundays and feast days of the church year. The title itself lists the various possible instrumental combinations. Thus, all instrumental parts can in principle also be performed with just two violins. The score includes the instrumental parts in "staccato notation" at points where the singing pauses. This allows the instruments to be replaced (if necessary) by a keyboard instrument. Larger ensembles were also taken into account: "Tutti" and "Solo" in the parts indicate, when a part is performed by multiple voices, where to play with a full sound or as a solo. In the case of a single-voice part, these terms correspond to "Forte" and "Piano," respectively. The soprano part can also be performed by a tenor. The same applies to the alto part, which can be sung by a bass.

The cantata presented here, "Ach, Seele, hungre, dürste, lechze," dates from 1731 and is designated for the second Sunday after Trinity. The two parts marked "Flauto dolce" have a range of a1-d3 and d1-b2. Since Telemann typically sets recorder parts very high for tonal reasons, it can be concluded that he intended an instrumentation of two tenor recorders here. Although the first part can also be played on an alto recorder, this would likely not have corresponded to Telemann's tonal vision. Both parts could also be played on transverse flutes.

The text for the 1731 edition consists of excerpts from the volume *Ruhe nach geschehener Arbeit* by Tobias Heinrich Schubart (1699-1747), published in 1733 by Kißner in Hamburg. Telemann must have had access to the texts years before their publication, which is not surprising given that Schubart had been a pastor at St. Michael's in Hamburg since 1728. The vivid, at times quite graphic language of Schubart's short religious "dramas" or "operas" seems somewhat out of step with the times, with its promise focused on the afterlife and its portrayal of the present as a vale of tears. Since Telemann's artful music ennobles the texts and their interpretation, they should be understood as a testament to their time and not rejected. After all, Bach's cantatas with similar texts are also performed time and again.

Our edition strictly adheres to the 1731 printing, which is preserved in the form of a score and two instrumental parts at the Royal Library in Copenhagen. Additions by the editor are marked as such in the score.

Celle, August 2012, Franz Müller-Busch