taste. To exasperate him more completely, Telemann succeeded in obtaining the directorship of the opera, although this was, as a general rule, irreconcilable with the post of organist. And all the students flocked to him, attracted at once by his youthful fame, by the lure of the theatre, and by gain. They deserted Kuhnau, who complained bitterly. In a letter of the 9th December, 1704, he protested that "in consequence of the appointment of a new organist who is to produce the operas henceforth, the students, who have hitherto joined the church choir gratuitously, and have been partly trained by me, now that they can be sure of earning something in the opera are leaving the choir to assist the 'operiste.'"—But his protest was in vain and Telemann won the day.
Thus at the very beginning of his career Telemann defeated the glorious Kuhnau, before outshining Bach. So powerful was the tide of the new musical fashion!
For that matter, Telemann knew how to profit by his luck and how to enable others to profit by it. There was nothing of the intriguer about him; and we cannot even say that it was ambition that urged him to accept all the posts which he secured during his long career; it was an extraordinary activity and a feverish need of exercising it. At Leipzig he worked assiduously, taking Kuhnau for his model in the matter of fugues[1] and perfecting himself in melody by working in collaboration with Händel.[2] At the same time he founded at Leipzig,
