In his Trio Sonata in D Minor TWV 42:d11, Telemann appears to have borrowed directly from Johann Heinrich Erlebach's VI Ouvertures using the technique of "transformative imitation." This technique is defined as borrowing a motive or phrase from a respected model and adapting the material as part of a new composition, bringing a fresh, critical reading to the piece, and creating a new product. In his second movement, En Menuet, Telemann reworked the first four-bar phrase from Erlebach's Air Menuet I, creating a quasi-imitative texture that was not part of the original, and he also manipulated a cadential block of the model by placing it within the middle of a new phrase. Both of these borrowings helped transform the model from a simple binary form into an extended and highly developed rondeau form. In addition, Telemann may have borrowed from Erlebach in the opening Gravement, though he disguised this heavily through fragmentation and melodic elaboration. Telemann's method of borrowing in these passages mirrors his borrowing of material from the composers Fux and Campra in which he lifted short blocks of material, changed them slightly, and reorganized them within the context of new material.

Works: Telemann: Trio Sonata in D Minor for Two Treble Instruments, TWV 42:d11.

Sources: Erlebach: Overture No. 6 in G Minor from VI Ouvertures.

Index Classifications: 1700s

Contributed by: Mary Ellen Ryan