Born in 1681 in Magdeburg (then the capital of the semi-autonomous Duchy of Magdeburg within the Electorate of Brandenburg, in the Holy Roman Empire), died in 1767 in Hamburg.

Telemann was one of the most prolific major composers of all time:  his all-encompassing œuvre comprises more than 3,000 compositions, half of which have been lost, and most of which have not  been performed since the eighteenth century. From 1708 to 1750,  Telemann composed 1,043 sacred cantatas and 600 overturesuites, and types of concertos for combinations of instruments  that no other composer of the time employed. The first accurate  estimate of the number of his works was provided by musicologists only during the 1980s and 1990s, when extensive thematic  catalogues were published.

Telemann was almost completely self-taught in music, becoming  a composer against his family’s wishes. Despite opposition from  his mother and relatives, who forbade any musical activities,  Telemann found it possible to study and compose in secret, even  creating an opera at the age of 12. After studying in Magdeburg,  Zellerfeld, and Hildesheim, Telemann entered the University of  Leipzig to study law, but eventually settled on a career in music.  He left Leipzig in 1705 at the age of 24, after receiving an invitation to become Kapellmeister for the court of Count Erdmann II  of Promnitz at Sorau (now Żary, Poland). His career there was  cut short in early 1706 by the hostilities of the Great Northern  War, and after a short period of travels he entered the service of  Duke Johann Wilhelm in Eisenach, where Johann Sebastian Bach  was born and where the two would meet. He became Konzertmeister on 24 December 1708 and Secretary and Kapellmeister  in August 1709. During his tenure at Eisenach, Telemann wrote  a great deal of music: at least four annual cycles of church cantatas, dozens of sonatas and concertos, and other works. In 1721  Telemann settled in Hamburg, where he became musical director  of that city’s five main churches. Later in the Hamburg period  he travelled to Paris and stayed for eight months, 1737 into  1738. He heard and was impressed by Rameau’s Castor et Pollux. From then on, he incorporated the French operatic style into  his vocal works. Before then, his influence was primarily Italian  and German. Apart from that, Telemann remained in Hamburg  for the rest of his life. A vocal masterpiece of this period is his  St Luke Passion from 1728, which is a prime example of his fully  matured vocal style.

While Telemann’s career prospered, his personal life was always  troubled: his first wife died less than two years after their marriage, and his second wife had extramarital affairs and accumulated a large gambling debt before leaving him. As part of his  duties, he wrote a considerable amount of music for educating  organists under his direction. This includes 48 chorale preludes  and 20 small fugues (modal fugues) to accompany his chorale  harmonisations for 500 hymns. His music incorporates French,  Italian, and German national styles, and he was at times even  influenced by Polish popular music. He remained at the forefront  of all new musical tendencies, and his music stands as an important link between the late Baroque and early Classical styles.

Selected works: Germanicus, opera (1704), Brockes-Passion,  oratorio (1716), VI Sonates en trio, trio sonatas (1718), Der geduldige Sokrates, comic opera (1721), Admiralitätsmusik, ceremonial orchestral and vocal music (1723), Wassermusik, orchestral  suite (1723), Harmonischer Gottes-Dienst, cantata cycle for voice  and continuo (1725–26), Pimpinone, comic opera / intermezzo  (1725), Orpheus, opera (1726), Methodical Sonatas, ornamented  sonatas (1728), Emma und Eginhard, opera (1728), Miriways,  opera (1728), Klingende Geographie, comic educational cantata (1729), Flavius Bertaridus, opera (1729), Fast allgemeines  Evangelisch-Musicalisches Liederbuch, hymn collection (1730),  Paris Quartets, chamber quartets (1730), Quadri, concertos and  quartets collection (1730), 12 Fantasias for Transverse Flute, flute  works (1732–33), Tafelmusik, collection of orchestral, chamber  and solo music (1733), Singe-, Spiel- und Generalbass-Übungen,  pedagogical vocal and continuo exercises (1733), Twelve Fantasies for violin (1735), Twelve Fantasies for viola da gamba (1735),  12 Marches héroïques, orchestral marches (1735), Six Canonic  Sonatas, duo sonatas (1738), Nouveaux Quatuors Parisiens, chamber quartets (1738), Essercizii musici, solo and trio sonatas collection (1739–40), Matthäus-Passion (1746), Der Tod Jesu, oratorio  (1755), Die Donner-Ode, choral cantata / oratorio (1756), Don  Quichotte auf der Hochzeit des Comacho, opera (1761), Der Tag  des Gerichts, oratorio (1762), Ino, dramatic cantata (1765), works  of uncertain dating: Concerto in G major for Viola (TWV 51:G9),  Concerto for Recorder and Flute in E minor (TWV 52:e1), Concerto for Trumpet in D major(TWV 51:D7), Concerto for 3 Trumpets and Timpani in D major (TWV 54:D4), Concerto Polonois  in G major (TWV 43:G7), Burlesque de Quixotte, orchestral  suite (TWV 55:G10), Suite in A minor for Recorder and Strings  (TWV 55:a2), Suite “La Putain”, orchestral suite (TWV 55:G13),  Suite “Les Nations”, orchestral suite (TWV 55:B5), OvertureSuite in D major (TWV 55:D18), Ouverture in C major “Alster  Echo”(TWV 55:C3), Sonata in F minor for Bassoon and Continuo (TWV 41:f1), Sonata in E minor for Recorder and Continuo  (TWV 41:e5), Sonata in B-flat major for Oboe and Continuo (TWV  41:B3), Sonata in C minor for Viola da Gamba (TWV 41:c1), Trio Sonata in D minor (TWV 42:d10), Trio Sonata in E-flat major  (TWV 42:Es3), Concerto for Four Violins in G major (TWV  40:201), Concerto for Flute and Violin in E minor (TWV 52:e3),  Concerto for Two Flutes and Bassoon in A minor (TWV 53:a1),  Concerto for Recorder and Bassoon in F major (TWV 52:F1), Concerto for Oboe d’amore in A major (TWV 51:A2), Concerto for Two  Violas in G major (TWV 52:G3), Suite in B-flat major “Les Nations  anciennes et modernes”, orchestral suite (TWV 55:B5), Der Schulmeister, comic cantata (TWV 20:39).