Donald Burrows believes that the answer can be found by untangling Mainwaring's confused chronology of the trip to Berlin. Burrows dates this trip to 1702 or 1703 (after his father's death) and concludes that since Handel (through a "friend and relation" at the Berlin court) turned down Frederick's offer to subsidise his musical education in Italy (with the implicit understanding that he would become a court musician on his return), Handel was no longer able to expect preferment (whether as a musician, lawyer or otherwise) within Brandenburg-Prussia. Since he was attracted to secular, dramatic music (by meeting the Italians Bononcini and Attilio Ariosti and through the influence of Telemann), Hamburg, a free city with an established opera company, was the logical choice.
donald burrows believes that the answer can be found by untangling mainwaring's confused chronology of the trip to berlin burrows dates this trip to 1702 or 1703 (after his father's death) and concludes that since handel (through a "friend and relation" at the berlin court) turned down frederick's offer to subsidise his musical education in italy (with the implicit understanding that he would become a court musician on his return) handel was no longer able to expect preferment (whether as a musician lawyer or otherwise) within brandenburg-prussia since he was attracted to secular dramatic music (by meeting the italians bononcini and attilio ariosti and through the influence of telemann) hamburg a free city with an established opera company was the logical choice