Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) composed his 12 Fantasien (12) für Violine ohne Bass (12 Fantasias for violin without basso continuo) in 1735 for Panton Hebestreit, the director of music at Eisenach. Unlike the other great Baroque works for solo violin, the sonatas and partitas of Bach, or the Rosary Sonatas of Biber, Telemann's Fantasien are extremely diverse works in three or four movements written in 12 different keys with all the movements distinctly different from each other. The element of fantasy is central to their conception and execution and the music often seems unpremeditated and even improvised. And yet Telemann's imagination never falters and each work is a masterpiece of its kind.

© All Music Guide