Critical reception, however acerbic, was the least of Straube's problems as he settled into life in Leipzig. On the surface, things continued on an upward trajectory, molto energico. In 1905 his solo career was busier than ever, with important appearances in Strassburg, the premiere of Reger's op. 73 at Leipzig, and, at Reger's instigation, the high-profile dedication recitals for the Walcker organ of the Munich Odeon that November. Subsequent years looked much the same, taking him as far as Riga. With the Bach-Verein, he studied not only a steady stream of cantatas and Bach's big choral works, but also the oratorios of Handel in two-year intervals: Saul (1906), Samson (1908), Belshazzar (1910), and Judas Maccabaeus (1912). Moreover, in 1908 Nikisch relinquished the annual St. Matthew Passion on Good Friday, and it was Straube, not Schreck, who assumed that duty. Between 1903 and 1907 he had cultivated a small but loyal circle of private organ students, some destined for prominent careers themselves.

But on Straube's completion of one season with the Bach-Verein and two years at St. Thomas, a restless dissatisfaction brewed just out of sight. In spring 1905, still saddled with the financial and artistic problems of the Bach-Verein, Straube confided to Reger that he was looking beyond Leipzig to possible positions in Berlin or Koblenz. Either city would have offered proximity to family: his parents still lived in Berlin, whereas his brother William had taught in Koblenz since 1898. The aversion to being pigeonholed as an organist continued to eat at him, and he now was casting about in hopes of broadening his horizons. When he told Hausegger that he was considering a Kapellmeister position in Koblenz, his friend replied with encouraging yet qualified words. On the one hand, he would make “an excellent orchestra conductor” with some experience. But Straube must have called organ playing a “speciality,” and Hausegger reacted. “In no case should you give up or even neglect the organ,” he admonished. “For you this is more than a mere specialty: in it a good portion of your personality is rooted. Your organ playing is about something entirely new. It is destined to allot to the organ a completely new standing.”