Telemann was renowned for his openness
to musical influences from across Europe.
During his travels he encountered Polish
and Hanna folk traditions that left a lasting
impression on him. In his autobiographical
writings, he vividly describes the impact of
this music: its rhythmic vitality, its improvisatory
spirit, and its powerful melodic
expression. These qualities fascinated him
and found their way, sometimes subtly,
sometimes quite directly, into his own
compositions. Yet reconstructing the sound
world of the eighteenth century presents a
unique challenge. Unlike music from the
twentieth or twenty-first centuries, there
are no recordings to tell us exactly how
this repertoire once sounded. Historically
informed performance with this repertoire
therefore requires re-composition.
Musicians must piece together clues
from written scores, historical treatises,
instrument research, and contemporary
descriptions. On the recording ‘folk
baroque’ the musicians expand this
process further by drawing inspiration
from living folk traditions. Many rhythmic
patterns, ornamentations, and expressive
gestures that appear in Baroque
music still survive today in Central European
dance music. These traditions offer
valuable insights into how such musical
gestures might function in performance.
The goal is not to recreate a supposedly
“authentic” past because that would be
inherently impossible, but to create a musical
interpretation that feels convincing,
vibrant, and alive for modern listeners inspired
by the timeless melodies of the Rostock
Manuscript.
For this reason, the program includes
elements of improvisation and experimental
playing techniques. While this
approach may initially seem unusual in
a Baroque context, it reflects the spirit
of exploration that shaped the music of
Telemann’s own time. The musical notation
in the Rostock Manuscript often provides
only a framework rather than a fully fixed
sound image. It invites performers to engage
creatively with the material and rediscover
its inherent energy.

The result is a concert experience that
feels both historical and contemporary.
The music is rooted in 18th
century sources, yet interpreted by
musicians who are equally at home in the
traditions of early music and in modern
sonic experimentation. Ultimately, what
connects this repertoire with today’s
audience isemotion. Instruments and
styles may change over time, but the
fundamental human passions expressed
through music remain the same: joy,
melancholy, longing, passion, and the
irresistible urge to dance.
When listeners begin to grasp the
expressive language behind these works,
the music suddenly feels remarkably
immediate. It ceases to be merely a
historical artefact and becomes a living
experience, almost as if a sleeping frog
had been awakened with a kiss...