Ich hebe meine Augen auf zu den Bergen

Telemann’s setting of Psalm 121 "I lift up mine eyes to the hills" reveals him to be an admirer of French music. Constructed on the example of a grand motet, each of the movements is patterned after the French model: the model of an overture for the first movement, the echoes of a chaconne in the second, the dotted gigue rhythms of the Canarie in the third. In addition there is the lively exchange between choir and solo ensemble, and much more. The music is full of poetic imagery, whenever the occasion arises, as at the very beginning with the words “Ich hebe meine Augen auf,” or in a later passage with the text “Siehe, der Hüter Israel schläft noch schlummert nicht” [Behold, hethat keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep].