The greatest musical prodigy since Mozart (some would say he was even greater), Felix Mendelssohn (18091847) excelled in everything he did, musical or otherwise, and during his brief life became Europes most respected and beloved composer. Yet no musician suffered more drastic swings in his posthumous reputation, and as a result Mendelssohns music was obscured by a host of extra-musical factors: changes in taste, the rise of nationalism, anti-Semitism, and contempt for Victorian culture. This owners manual offers a guide to Mendelssohns musical output, major and minor, providing points of entry into a large body of work, much of which remains far too little known. Theres much more to Mendelssohn than the Italian Symphony and the Midsummer Nights Dream Overture, and a whole creative world of vivid, expressive, and fantastical music is ready for exploration.
| Acknowledgments |
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ix | |
| Felix Mendelssohn: Chronological List of Works |
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xi | |
| Introduction: Getting to Know Mendelssohn's Music |
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1 | (26) |
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Part 1 The Baroque Mendelssohn |
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27 | (34) |
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Chapter 1 String Symphonies Nos. 1---6 |
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29 | (8) |
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Chapter 2 Selected Keyboard Works (Organ Sonatas, Six Preludes and Fugues, Three Preludes and Fugues) |
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37 | (12) |
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Chapter 3 Oratorios (St. Paul and Elijah) |
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49 | (12) |
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Part 2 The Classical Mendelssohn |
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61 | (36) |
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Chapter 4 String Symphonies Nos. 7---9 |
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63 | (10) |
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Chapter 5 Chamber Music (Octet, String Quartets, String Quintets, Chamber Works with Piano) |
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73 | (16) |
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Chapter 6 Selected Keyboard Works (Variations serieuses, Piano Sonatas, and More) |
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89 | (8) |
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Part 3 The Romantic Mendelssohn |
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97 | (42) |
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Chapter 7 String Symphonies Nos. 10---13 |
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99 | (10) |
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Chapter 8 Symphonies for Full Orchestra (and One Sonata) |
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109 | (16) |
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Chapter 9 Selected Vocal Works: Songs, Choral Music, "Lobgesang," Die erste Walpurgisnacht |
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125 | (14) |
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Part 4 The Progressive Mendelssohn |
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139 | (40) |
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Chapter 10 Overtures and Incidental Music |
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141 | (16) |
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Chapter 11 Concertos and Solos with Orchestra |
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157 | (12) |
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Chapter 12 Songs Without Words |
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169 | (10) |
| Conclusion: Listening to Mendelssohn |
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179 | (4) |
| Track List |
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183 | |
Music critic, percussionist, and author David Hurwitz is the founder and Executive Editor of Classicstoday.com, the internets first classical music review magazine. Holding MA degrees from Johns Hopkins and Stanford universities, Hurwitz is the author of books on Mozart, Mahler, Sibelius, Haydn, Dvoįk, Brahms, Beethoven, Shostakovich, R. Strauss, CPE Bach, Bernstein, and Handel, published under the Amadeus Press and Continuum imprints. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, he currently divides his time between Brooklyn, New York, and Milford, Connecticut.
