pioneer of the new style declares, in his Autobiography (1729):
"As for my styles in music (he does not say my style), these are well-known. First there was the Polish style, then the French style, and above all the Italian style, in which I have written most profusely."
I cannot, in these hasty notes, which are merely the outlines of a series of lectures, lay especial stress upon certain influences, more particularly on that of Polish music, which has been taken too little into account, though its style furnished many inspirations to the German masters of that period.[1] But what I wish to make clear just now is that the leaders of the new German school, though imbued with a very profound sense of nationality, were steeped in foreign influences which had crossed all parts of the German frontier—Czech, Polish, French, and Italian. This was not an accident; it was a necessity. German music, despite its power, had always had a sluggish circulation. The music of other countries—ours, for example—has chiefly
- ↑ Telemann, who became acquainted with Polish music, at Soran and at Pleise, "in all its true barbaric beauty," does not forget, with his customary frankness, which renders him so sympathetic, to tell us what he owes to it. "No one could ever conceive what an extraordinary imagination this music reveals… Anyone who took notes could obtain, in a week, a store of ideas which would last him for the rest of his life. In short, there is a great deal that is good in this music, if one knows how to profit by it… It was of great service to me subsequently, even in many a serious composition… At a later period I wrote in this style long concertos and trios which I then gave an Italian dress."Herr Max Schneider has pointed out traces of this Polish music in Telemann's Methodical Sonatas and his Kleine Kammer-Music. It was more particularly by way of Saxony, whose Elector was King of Poland, that this music spread through Germany. Even an Italianate German like Hasse was affected by it; he speaks, in a conversation with Burney, of "this Polish music, genuinely natural, and often very tender and delicate."
