Telemann was a prolific German Baroque composer and friend of J. S. Bach, who made him godfather to his son Carl Philipp Emanuel. He composed music in all genres, including instrumental, choral, and chamber music, both for professional performers and for the growing number of amateur players of this time. This Lento and the following Allegro are drawn from a cello sonata first published in Der getreue Musikmeister, a musical journal containing a variety of chamber music pieces, published in 25 issues by Telemann in 1728–9.