Kim Patrick Clow <[log in to unmask]> speculates:

>Obviously Telemann wanted a church position.  He could had been appointed
>to any secular court that he wanted, he was that popular.  Like Bach, he
>really wanted to express himself musically in a church setting.  They both
>were very religious men.

Telemann was a very respected musician of his time, much more well known
than J.S.Bach for example, and Telamann was at an early stage offered a lot
of employments after a successful performance of a cantata of his hand in
Leipzig 1701.  Telemann worked as Kapellmeister at several German courts
before he became "Directores Musicus" in Frankfurt 1712(?).  However he
appreciated that security of employment a city could offer more than high
status, and therefore he choosed Hamburg (around 1720) where he composed
music for the 5 largest churches in the city.

>Telemann had the same type of position in Hamburg as the position was
>in Leipzig: a civic post for teaching music to students and basically
>overseeing musical performances in the city churches.

And like J.S.Bach he employed others to do the duties he didn't concern
suitable for a true artist, like latin teaching.

Wilhelm Menkes Biography "Georg Philipp Telemann" (1987) sheds clear light
on the art of his employments and his opinions thereabout.  I don't know
of any English translation, but perhaps others will know.

Mats Norrman
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