Among the powerful late works that Telemann composed outside of his official duties for public concerts is Der Tag des Gerichts. On March 17, 1762, the oratorio was performed for the first time in the Hamburg concert hall on the Kamp. It is not only grand in scale and instrumentation, but also depicts a moving theme from a Christian perspective: the tremendous power of God on the Day of Judgment.
In his dramatic libretto, Telemann’s pupil Christian Wilhelm Alers describes the fear of God’s judgment on the Last Day. His modern language, influenced by Klopstock, inspired Telemann to create powerful musical images of terror, menace, and God-willed forces of nature, but also to hymns of thanksgiving and praise. In the Hamburg press, Der Tag des Gerichts was announced as a ‘sung poem full of powerful movements.’
This production is realized with the support of the Tax Shelter measure of the Belgian Federal Government through Flanders Tax Shelter.
