Six Canonic Sonatas for Two Instruments

Book excerpt: The six Canonic Sonatas presented here are a collection originally entitled "Six Canons or Sonatas for two German Flutes or two Violins, Compos'd by Georg Philip Telemann." The title for this publication illustrates the practice of leaving some latitude in the choice of instruments, providing more opportunity for sales to the flourishing amateur Hausmusik market in Hamburg during that time. Each movement of these sonatas is a two-part canon in which both musicians play precisely the same lines, one measure apart.