Georg Philipp Telemann worked as his own publisher for most of his music from 1715 to 1740, producing 47 known printed editions of his music; Telemann was practically unique in this respect among composers of his time. In Telemann's day one was required to apply for permission from the state to publish anything, and composers were seldom paid for editions of their works—the preponderance of "bootleg" musical publications by firms such as John Walsh in London or La Céne in Amsterdam was the rule rather than the exception. Yet Telemann remained in control of the dissemination of his work for most of his long life and in many cases reorganized compositions to fit the requirements of publication of a particular set of works.

Perhaps no published Telemann set was more radical in this regard than Six Concerts et Six Suites, printed in Hamburg in 1734. This consisted of four separate part books containing 12 works, six being chamber concertos, and the rest dance suites in the French style. The parts are for flute, violin, figured bass, and harpsichord and can be used in this original configuration or shuffled to yield new combinations—take out the violin part and you have a trio for flute, cello, and harpsichord. Or take out the flute and you have a different trio for violin, cello, and harpsichord. Finally, use only the parts for flute and harpsichord and you have a sonata for harpsichord with flute accompaniment, an arrangement that looks forward to the accompanied solo setting common to keyboard music of the mid- to late eighteenth century, but practically unknown in Telemann's time. If one were to take all of Telemann's suggestions for realization, the Six Concerts et Six Suites would produce 48 works—played end to end all of this would add up to more than ten hours of music. It seems the idea of "more bang for your buck" is not limited to the twentieth century!

No matter what the configuration, the music is of outstanding quality, containing some of Telemann's most inspired contributions to French-styled Baroque chamber music.

© Uncle Dave Lewis , All Music Guide