Telemann: Violin Concerto in A major

Georg Philip Telemann's father was a LUTHERAN deacon, who passed away when Telemann was only four years old. Georg Philipp showed musical talent from an early age, but the LUTHERAN elders told his mother that musical studies would lead to him becoming: "a clown, a tightrope walker or a marmot-trainer." After Telemann studied music in secret for a while, his mother relented and let him begin musical studies with a nearby Kantor. While Telemann did not become a tight-rope walker, nor a marmot trainer, he did retain his sense of humor. Late in life, he wrote the whimsical violin concerto we just heard, which includes musical imitations of frogs. And if you like musical frogs, perhaps you'd be interested in Herpetology—that's the scientific study of lizards and amphibians!