Sonata a Due

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Sonata a Due (1728)

TWV 40:111

Georg Phillip Telemann (1681-1767)

Any Two Saxophones

Sonata a Due by Georg Phillip Telemann arranged for Any Two Saxophones. Originally for flute and violin, this arrangement of Sonata a Due is for any two saxophones.

With this arrangement of Sonata a Due you get:

2 Saxophone duet scores (each 6pp, 9″ x 12″)

• Duet score for B-flat saxophones
• Duet score for E-flat saxophones

Saxophone parts (4pp each, 9″ x 12″)

• First part for B-flat saxophones (soprano or tenor)
• First part for E-flat saxophones (alto or baritone)
• Second part B-flat saxophones (soprano or tenor)
• Second part for E-flat saxophones (alto or baritone)

The sonata is in 4 movements following a slow-fast-slower-faster pattern.

1. Allegro (4/4 throughout, tempo about eighth note = 96)
2. Scherzando (4/4 throughout, tempo about quarter note = 112)
3. Largo e misurato (3/4 throughout, tempo around eighth note = 72)
4. Presto (12/8 throughout, tempo around dotted quarter = 136-144)

The range for each saxophone part is shown below.
Audio and score excerpts are available above.

Saxophone Range for Sonata a Due

About the Composer

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681 – 1767) was a German Baroque composer. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family’s wishes. Telemann entered the University of Leipzig to study law, but eventually settled on a career in music. He held important positions in Leipzig, Eisenach, and Frankfurt before settling in Hamburg in 1721, where he became musical director of the city’s five main churches.

Telemann was and still is one of the most prolific composers in history. His complete catalog comprises more than 3,000 compositions. Many of these works have been lost and just as many have not been performed since the 18th century. In his day he was considered by as one of the leading German composers of the time. He was compared favorably both to his friends Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel. In the 19th century Telemann’s popularity came to a sudden halt. Critics assumed that anyone who wrote such a tremendous amount of music favored quantity over quality. The critics were later disproved and in the 20th century Telemann’s music began to be respected again.

Telemann’s music incorporates several national styles (French, Italian, German). He remained at the forefront of new musical developments and his music is an important link between the late Baroque and early Classical styles. Telemann wrote in all popular genres of his time: opera, cantata, church music, orchestral suites, instrumental chamber music, and solo keyboard music.

Telemann was one of the first composers to pursue exclusive publication rights for his works. He set one of the most important early precedents regarding music as the intellectual property of the composer. The same attitude informed his public concerts, where he would frequently perform music originally composed for ceremonies attended only by a select few members of the upper class. His music deserves a place equal to Bach and Handel’s, as the pinnacle of the high Baroque style, and even as a driving force behind the early classical style developed Haydn and Mozart.

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