Page:Rolland - A musical tour through the land of the past.djvu/110

98 to understand. He has been immolated by the pious zeal of the Bach enthusiasts, such as Bitter, Wolfrum, or our friend A. Schweitzer, who does not realise that Bach transcribed whole cantatas by Telemann with his own hand. It is possible not to realise this; but if one admires Bach the mere fact that his opinion of Telemann was so high should give us food for reflection. Winterfeld alone, in the past, has made a careful study of Telemann's religious compositions and perceived his historical importance in the development of the religious cantata.—Some years ago the musicologists began to revise the irresponsible decree of history. In 1907 Herr Max Schneider published in the Denkmäler du Tonkunst in Deutschland two of Telemann's last works: Der Tag des Gerichts (The Day of Judgment) and Ino, accompanying them by an excellent historical notice. Herr Curt Ottzenn, for his part, has written a short and slightly superficial study entitled Telemann als Opern komponist: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte Hamburger Oper (1902, Berlin), and added to it a musical album of fragments from Telemann's operas, comic and otherwise.

There is no lack of data as to Telemann's life. He himself took the trouble to write three narratives of his career, in 1718, in 1729 and in 1739.

This taste for autobiography is a sign of the times: it is to be found in other German musicians of the period, and it coincides with the publication of