The Cambridge Companion To Mendelssohn

Edited by Peter Mercer-Taylor

The Companion to Mendelssohn, is written by leading scholars in the field. In fourteen chapters they explore the life, work, and reception of a composer-performer once thought uniquely untroubled in life and art alike, but who is now broadly understood as one of the nineteenth century’s most deeply problematic musical figures. The first section of the volume considers issues of biography, with chapters dedicated to Mendelssohn’s role in the emergence of Europe’s modern musical institutions, to the persistent tensions of his German-Jewish identity, and to his close but enigmatic relationship with his gifted older sister, Fanny. The following nine essays survey Mendelssohn’s expansive and multi-faceted musical output, marked as it was by successes in almost every contemporary musical genre outside of opera. The volume’s two closing essays confront, in turn, the turbulent course of Mendelssohn’s posthumous reception and some of the challenges his music continues to pose for modern performers.

Bibliographic Details

1 b/w illus. 41 music examples

Contents

• Introduction: Mendelssohn as border-dweller Peter Mercer-Taylor
• Part I. Issues in Biography: 1. Mendelssohn and the institution(s) of German art music Peter Mercer-Taylor
• 2. Mendelssohn and Judaism Michael P. Steinberg
• 3. Felix and Fanny: gender, biography, and history Marian Wilson-Kimber
• Part II. Situating the Compositions: 4. Mendelssohn and the rise of musical historicism James Garratt
• 5. Mendelssohn as progressive Greg Vitercik
• Part III. Profiles of the Music: 6. Symphony and Overture Douglass Seaton
• 7. The works for solo instrument(s) and orchestra Steve Lindeman
• 8. Mendelssohns chamber music Thomas Schmidt-Beste
• 9. The music for keyboard Glenn Stanley
• 10. On Mendelssohns sacred music, real and imaginary R. Larry Todd
• 11. Mendelssohns songs Susan Youens
• 12. Felix Mendelssohns dramatic compositions: from Liederspiel to Lorelei Monika Hennemann
• Part IV. Reception and Performance: 13. Mendelssohn received John Michael Cooper
• 14. Wagner as Mendelssohn: reversing habits and reclaiming meaning in the performance of Mendelssohns music for orchestra and chorus Leon Botstein.