It is well documented that Telemann’s contemporaries marveled at his command of the French, Italian and even Polish national musical idioms he incorporated into his works. The ‘Paris’ Quartets (1730) and ‘Nouveaux Quatuors’ (1738) are a fine example of his contribution to instrumental music in the Baroque era. While they reflect his mastery of Corelli’s Italian Sonata/Concerto forms and Lully’s French Suite influences, they also provide a departure point for the forward-looking conversational galant style.

These six Quartets for flute, violin, viola/viola da gamba and continuo are puzzling on almost all counts. Though printed in Paris in 1752 they are not part of the genuine ‘Paris Quartet’ set of 1738. Nor are they incontrovertibly the work of Telemann. But on stylistic grounds it does seem likely, though we should not rule out an imitator, French perhaps, who in collusion with the publisher saw an opportunity to make some money following the enormous success of Telemann’s Paris visit in 1737-8.

Telemann published his Sonates sans Basse à deux Flutes traverses, ou à deux Violons, ou à deux Flutes à bec (Sonatas without Bass for Two Transverse Flutes, or Two Violins, or Two Recorders) in Hamburg in 1727 and they were published again in Amsterdam around the year l730 by Le Cène, in Paris in 1736-37 by Le Clerc and in London in 1746 as opera seconda by Walsh. Telemann, in his own autobiographical notice published by Handel's Hamburg rival Mattheson in 1740 in his Grundlage einer Ehren-Pforte, writes of his ability to play the keyboard, violin, recorder, oboe, flute, chalumeau and viola da gamba, as well as the double bass and trombone, skills that at that time were not unique to him.

This exciting Baroque instrumental group using period instruments performs with passion and integrity music primarily from Telemann's "Essercitzii Musici" and "Tafelmusik."