The Dispute about French Recitatives (from the Letters of G. Ph. Telemann and C. H. Graun)

Abstract

In this article are presented the letters from the correspondence G. Ph. Telemann with C. Н. Graun. The reader’s attention is invited to three letters, two of which had been written by Graun, and one by Telemann. The main content of the letters is dispute about French recitatives using the case of J. Ph. Rameau’s opera Castor et Pollux. Herewith Telemann protects them, but Graun as the follower of Italian music criticizes it and praises the Italian recitative. The translation is supplied with preface and detailed commentary.