Page:Rolland - A musical tour through the land of the past.djvu/128

116 continued until our own days. At first they were held in the barracks of the town guard, twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, at four o'clock. The price of admission was one florin eight groschen. At these concerts Telemann produced all those works of his, sacred or profane, public or private, which had already been performed elsewhere, not to speak of works especially written for the concerts: psalms, oratorios, cantatas and instrumental pieces. He rarely conducted other music than his own. These concerts, attended by the élite of the city, and closely followed by the critics, were conducted with care and punctuality, and flourished exceedingly. In 1761 a fine hall was opened for them, comfortable and well warmed.

Nor was this all: in 1728 he founded the first musical journal published in Germany, He retained his title of Kapellmeister of Saxony; he provided Eisenach with the usual Tafelmusik and with compositions for the Court festivals. He had undertaken, on leaving Frankfort, to send certain sacred compositions thither every three years in exchange for the freedom of the city which had been conferred upon him. He had been Kapellmeister of Bayreuth since 1726, and sent thither a yearly opera and instrumental music. Lastly, music being insufficient to appease his thirst for activity, he accepted the post of correspondent to the Eisenach Court; writing letters containing