Fantasia no3, from 12 Fantasias for Flute without Bass, TWV 40:4 by G.Ph.Telemann
 
For a transcriber, the most fascinating and difficult challenge is, undoubtedly, the arrangement of a piece for a polyphonic instrument of music originally written for a monodic one. The Fantasia you are holding in your hands is the result of one of such challenges and I dare to say that music for flute solo is clearly a Mount Everest for any transcriber.
 
For us, listeners, the expectation regarding the fullness of the harmony, the clarity of the bass line and the explicit counterpoint are completely different when listening to a flute or a guitar. A flute score does not only consist of ‘one note at time’ type of writing, but has also plenty of ‘empty’ spots and broken melodic lines (especially in the middle voices) due to the necessary respiration silences.
 
In spite of the presence of a fugato at the beginning of the Allegro, this Fantasia did not show particular problems concerning the counterpoint/harmony (likewise the 2nd Fantasia). It is so perfectly written, that, more than adding missing notes, my work has been mostly to write them on the right octave (so to speak), in order to confer to the piece a more guitar-like sonority. Obviously, the last movement needed a basso continuo and so I created a simple and clear one for it. I am sure you will enjoy a lot this intensively passionate piece!