Page:Rolland - A musical tour through the land of the past.djvu/109

 

V.

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A FORGOTTEN MASTER

Telemann, the Successful Rival of J. S. Bach.

History is the most partial of the sciences. When it becomes enamoured of a man it loves him jealously; it will not even hear of others. Since the day when the greatness of Johann Sebastian Bach was admitted all that was great in his lifetime has become less than nothing. The world has hardly been able to forgive Händel for the impertinence of having had as great a genius as Bach's and a much greater success. The rest have fallen into dust; and there is no dust so dry as that of Telemann, whom posterity has forced to pay for the insolent victory which he won over Bach in his lifetime. This man, whose music was admired in every country in Europe, from France to Russia, and whom Schubart called "the peerless master," whom the austere Mattheson declared to be the only musician who was above all praise,^[1] is to-day forgotten and despised. No one attempts to make his acquaintance. He is judged by hearsay, by sayings which are attributed to him but whose meaning no one takes the trouble

1. Ein Lulli wird gerühmt; Corelli lässt sich loben;
   

   Nur Telemann allein ist übers Lob erhoben.
   

   "A Lulli fame has won; Corelli may be praised;
   

   But Telemann alone above all praise is raised."