Telemann Complete Orchestral Suites, vol.4

Among the art treasures of Dresden is a collection of music manuscripts that in part goes back to the repertoire of the Dresden Hofkapelle, which was founded more than 450 years ago and became world famous in the 18th century. One of its patrons, the Saxon Elector Friedrich August I, known as August the Strong (reigned 1694–1733), had been elected King of Poland in 1697. According to the feudal concept of representation, this rise in status was the cause of an even further increase in the display of splendour, from which the residence and its court chapel profited as well. August had grown up into a fertile cultural tradition. Journeys abroad had rendered him susceptible to the refined culture at the French court as well as to Italian art. He was as fickle in his aesthetic predilections as in his amorous adventures, open to change in music, drama and the opera. Whereas particularly in the performing arts the artists were dependent on the Prince’s favour, the court chapel, which employed German, Italian, French and soon also Bohemian and Polish musicians, enjoyed a long tradition and was allowed to develop in a continuous fashion. Just as he absorbed into his Green Vault the most precious gems, in his royal household he employed the most exceptional talents, turning Dresden for a while into a melting pot of European culture.