Mendelssohn: A Life in Music
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123 . Schweitzer, I, 405–6. The passage occurs in bar 11. The autograph is in SBB; a facs. was published in 1947: J. S. Bach, Brandenburgische Konzerte: Faksimile nach dem im Besitz der Deutschen Staatsbibliothek in Berlin befindlichen Autograph , ed. Peter Wackernagl, Leipzig, 1947.
124 . Elvers: 1982, 419.
125 . November 1, 1819, Felix to the young horn player Rudolf Gugel, with whom Felix had performed in public in 1818. See Elvers: 1963, 95–97.
126 . MDM c. 21, fol. 107. A facs. of the Lied appeared in E. Wolff: 1906, 13.
127 . MA Ms. 3; see also Klein: 1995, 74.
128 . MDM b. 5, fols. 42–52. See further Ward Jones: 2002; J. Draheim has published an edition of the sonata (Wiesbaden, 1998).
129 . “Aus Berliner Briefen Augusts von Goethe (19–26. Mai 1819): ein Brief der Ottilie,” in Goethe Jahrbuch 28 (1907), 35.
130 . Treitschke, 102.
131 . MF , I, 65–66.
132 . Treitschke, 110.
133 . Sorkin: 1987, 37.
134 . Katz: 1980, 77.
135 . For a full account, see Katz: 1994.
136 . Varnhagen von Ense, IX, 614–15; trans. in Nichols, 9.
137 . E. Werner: 1963, 28; on Werner’s embellishment of Varnhagen’s account, see Sposato: 1998, 193–94.
138 . August 9, 1819, Abraham to Henriette Mendelssohn, in Klein: 1997, 42; see also Klein: 2001, 67.
139 . Treitschke, 280.
140 . MF , I, 79.
Chapter 2
1 . MF , I, 74.
2 . Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Werke: Kritisch duchgesehene Ausgabe , Leipzig, 1874–1877. The earliest composition admitted was the Piano Sonata in G minor (1821), posthumously published in 1868 as Op. 105.
3 . Leipziger Ausgabe der Werke Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdys , Leipzig, 1960–1977. After a hiatus of twenty years, the new Gesamtausgabe resumed publication during the 1997 sesquicentennial.
4 . December 10, 1824, Zelter to Goethe; Hecker, II, 310. Fanny’s fugues appear not to have survived, though some of her chorales are in an autograph volume in Berlin. See Schröder, 23–32.
5 . MF , I, 82.
6 . Ibid., I, 83.
7 . Fanny’s setting, dated March 22, 1820, is preserved in MA Dep. Lohs I, 3; Felix’s undated setting is in his composition workbook, MDM c. 43, fol. 21r.
8 . See Schröder (n. 4).
9 . “Vorrede” to Geistliche Oden und Lieder , C. F. Gellert, Gesammelte Schriften , ed. H. John et al., Berlin, 1997, II, 108.
10 . Including the Fugue in E minor, Op. 35 No. 1; slow movement of the Cello Sonata in D major, Op. 58; and finale of the Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 66.
11 . MDM c. 43; see Todd: 1983.
12 . Marpurg, Kritische Briefe über die Tonkunst , Berlin, 1760; rep. Hildesheim, 1974, I, 266; trans. in David and Mendel, 363.
13 . Unpublished, the quartet fugues are examined in Friedrich, 25–29, 34–38.
14 . Similarly, Beethoven, whom the Viennese theorist J. G. Albrechstberger had mentored in the genre during the 1790s, revived it in 1825, two years before his death, in the mystical Heiliger Dankgesang movement of the String Quartet Op. 132.
15 . AmZ 23 (1821), 349.
16 . See Schünemann: 1928, 151. According to Ledebur (359), Felix joined the Singakademie on April 11, 1819; more likely, Felix began to attend rehearsals as a visitor around this time.
17 . SBB, MN 2; MDM b. 5, fols. 69–72. An edition by Pietro Zappalà of several settings has appeared (Stuttgart, 1998).
18 . See R. Werner, 4; Zappalà: 1993, 206; and Wehner: 1996, 48–49.
19 . Marpurg: 1754, II, 132.
20 . See Wehner: 1996, 48–57; and R. Werner, 8–10.
21 . Blumner, 56.
22 . As, for example, in Psalm 30 (1794), titled Mendelssohniana: 6 mehrstimmige Gesänge , and 119 (1795).
23 . Sonata in G minor for two pianos (February [1820]), Oxford, MDM b. 5; Piano Sonata in A minor (May 1820), MN 1; untitled Piano Sonata in C minor, MN 1; Piano Sonata in E minor (July 1820), MN 1; Violin Sonata in F major, MN 1; Piano Sonata in F minor, MN 1 and 2; Piano Sonata in G minor, Op. 105; and Sonatina in E major (December 13, 1821), MA Ms. 142.
24 . Sonata in G minor for two pianos, ed. J. Draheim, Kassel, 1998; Violin Sonata in F major, ed. R. Unger, Leipzig, 1977; and Op. 105.
25 . See Klein: 1993, 146. For facsimiles of the autograph, see Petitpierre, Romance , 106–7.
26 . Reinecke, 3.
27 . In modern usage, the fourth and fifth fingers.
28 . July 18, 1820, MF , I, 83.
29 . Entry of July 6, 1837, wedding diary of Felix and Cécile; Ward Jones: 1997, 62. On August 24, 1820, Abraham, Fanny, Felix, Rebecka, Carl Heyse, and Abraham’s colleague Louis Hart signed a visitors’ album of the Brömserburg at Rüdesheim. I am grateful to Peter Ward Jones for alerting me to these sources.
30 . Thus the American musician Lowell Mason, who visited Berlin in 1852, maintained August Wilhelm was “of the family of the famous John Sebastian.” Lowell Mason, Musical Letters from Abroad , N.Y., 1854, 98. For a thorough study of A. W. Bach’s career, see Sieling; concerning Bach’s method of instruction, see Little: 2002, 292–93.
31 . Mason, 97; Freudenberg, 25. I am grateful to Prof. Wm. A. Little for drawing my attention to the latter passage.
32 . Ibid. The work was the unpublished Prelude in E minor for organ, BWV 533. The student, C. G. Freudenberg, copied the work, which Felix gratefully received at the Singakademie on December 9, 1822; the manuscript survives in MN II, 166–67.
33 . May 3, 1821, Felix to A. W. Bach, MLL , 4.
34 . See Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Complete Organ Works , ed. Wm. A. Little, London, 1990, V.
35 . Rebecka Mendelssohn Bartholdy to Ferdinand David, January 26, 1832, in Eckardt, 41.
36 . See Todd: 1983, 69ff.; and Todd: 1998, 172–73.
37 . MN 1, 3. The Recitativo remains unpublished; the Trio and Quartet are edited, albeit unreliably, in McDonald. See also the new ed. of the Quartet by Wulf Konold, Leipzig, 1997.
38 . Benedict, 8. Benedict misidentified the work as the Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 1, which Felix began in September 1822.
39 . See further Ward Jones: 1993, 264; piano quartets of Mozart, Prince Louis Ferdinand, and Dussek were in Felix’s library (Elvers and Ward Jones, 94, 98–99).
40 . Lea to Henriette von Pereira Arnstein (MDM c. 29, extract); the autographs of the first six sinfonie (MN 3) yield dates only for Nos. 4 and 6, begun on September 5 and 15, 1821.
41 . Marx: 1865, I, 111–12; Dorn, 1872b, III, 49.
42 . Parts for these symphonies, including Zelter’s supplemental wind parts, were in the Singakademie library. Kulukundis, 166.
43 . Über Johann Sebastian Bachs Leben, Kunst und Kunstwerke , Leipzig, 1802, 44.
44 . AmZ 5 (1803), 368; from Zelter’s anonymous review of Forkel’s biography; see Ottenberg, 208ff.
45 . The Lieder include Ave Maria , “Raste, Krieger,” “Die Nachtigall,” and “Der Verlassene,” of which only the last is dated (September 24, 1821). The two part-songs, in the tradition of Zelter’s male choral songs for the Berlin Liedertafel, are “Einst im Schlaraffenland” and “Lieb und Hoffnung.” For the solo Lieder, see Leven: 1926; and Leven: 1958.
46 . Leven: 1958, 207–8.
47 . Lady of the Lake , Canto ii, 235–38.
48 . Harmonicon 10 (1832), 2nd part, 54–55; see the list of editions of Fanny’s music in Maurer, 30.
49 . MN 1, 7–10.
50 . See Warrack: 1987, 264; Schünemann: 1923, 507–9.
51 . Viz., the seventh scene of Act I, “Giovinette che fate all’amore,” the melody of which Felix takes over nearly literally.
52 . Henriette Mendelssohn to Fanny (March 3, 1821), in Lambour: 1986, 60. Marianne, who did not convert to Christianity, later became an active philanthropist. At her funeral in 1880 several Mendelssohns participated in a Jewish ceremony for the first time during their lives. See Gilbert: 1975, xvi.
53 . February 26, 1821, Lea to Henriette von Pereira Arnstein. MDM c. 29 (extract).
54 . A piano-duet arrangement of the overture, presumably used by Felix and Fanny, has survived (MN 2, 12–19); most likely, Felix himself rendered the orchestral score of the other numbers at the piano.
55 . February 26, 1821, Lea to Henriette von Pereira Arnstein, MDM c. 29 (extract).
56 . See Schünemann: 1923, 509–15; Köhler: 1960, 86–89; and Warrack: 1987, 267–71.
57 . September 10, 1829, from Mendelssohn to Wilhelm Hensel, in MLL , 97.
58 . Lea to Henriette von Pereira Arnstein, May 6, 1821, MDM c. 29 (extract).
59 . March 22, 1821, from Felix to Gustav Adolf Stenzel, in Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Briefe , ed. Rudolf Elvers, Band I, Leipzig, 1997, Vorabdruck , 6; and E. Devrient, Erinnerungen , 11f.
60 . May 6, 1821, Lea to Henriette von Pereira Arnstein (MDM c. 29, extract).
61 . E. Devrient, Erinnerungen , 11f.
62 . T. Devrient, 225ff.
63 . Letter of May 6, 1821, Lea to Henriette von Pereira Arnstein. MDM c. 29 (extract).
64 . Bauer, I, 223.
65 . Rollka, 77.
66 . E. Devrient, Erinnerungen , 12.
67 . Warrack: 1987, 273.
68 . E. Devrient, Erinnerungen , 15.
69 . March 22, 1820 [recte 1821], PML; Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 1997, 5–6.
70 . Several of Felix’s undated math and history exercise books survive at the Bodleian Library (MDM d. 67).
71 . An edition with several facsimiles appeared in 1961 (Galley).
72 . August Wilhelm Schlegel, Shakespeares dramatische Werke , Berlin, 1797–1810, 9 vols.
73 . Galley, 30.
74 . Lea to Henriette von Pereira Arnstein, February 18, 1819, from a copy of the correspondence in the Mendelssohn-Gesellschaft, Berlin; cited in Lowenthal-Hensel: 1990, 141.
75 . Kliem, 136.
76 . Bauer, I, 207.
77 . Letter of July 28, 1821, Lambour: 1986, 84.
78 . February 1821, Lea to Henriette von Pereira Arnstein, MDM c. 29 (extract).
79 . Entry of January 1821: “J’aurais fait l’essai d’exprimer sur ce papier mon admiration pour vos rares talen[t]s si la chose m’eut paru aussi facile que de faire une Fugue.” Klein: 1993, 145.
80 . Hexelschneider, 133.
81 . October 19, 1821, Lea to Henriette von Pereira Arnstein. MDM c. 29 (extract).
82 . November 6, 1821, Fanny to Felix; Mendelssohn, Fanny and Felix, 21.
83 . June 1821, Lea to Henriette von Pereira Arnstein. MDM c. 29 (extract).
84 . On Begas see Irmgard Wirth, Die Künstlerfamilie Begas in Berlin , Berlin, 1968.
85 . Letter of September 1821 from Lea to Henriette von Pereira Arnstein. MDM c. 29 (extract).
86 . Berlin, MA Depos. Lohs 1, 45–48. The manuscript, which contains primarily Lieder from 1820 and 1821, is briefly described in Klein: 1995, 81.
87 . Lambour, 65, n. 5.
88 . One is reproduced in color in Schneider: 1947, 17.
89 . See Crum: 1972, 11.
90 . Lowenthal-Hensel: 1979, 176.
91 . MF , I, 96.
92 . See Cooper: 1995.
93 . Lowenthal-Hensel: 1979b, 184, 193–94.
94 . Schadow, I, 143.
95 . MF , I, 95.
96 . On Spontini’s opera, which drew upon the romances already composed for the Lallah Rookh festival, see Dennis Libby, “Gaspare Spontini and His French and German Operas,” Ph.D. diss., Princeton Univ., 1969, 355ff.
97 . Helmig, 164.
98 . Letter ca. July 1820; MF , I, 79.
99 . Ibid., I, 75.
100 . August 11, 1821, Jacob Bartholdy to Fanny. Lambour: 1986, 87.
101 . The loss is alluded to in letters to Fanny from Jacob Bartholdy (August 4 and 11, 1821) and Henriette Mendelssohn (August 7, 1821), Lambour: 1986, 63, 85.
102 . September 24, 1821, Lea to Henriette von Pereira Arnstein; cited in Crum: 1984, 87–88.
Chapter 3
1 . As reported in Hans von Bülow, Ausgewählte Schriften: 1850–1892 , Leipzig, 1896, 371.
2 . Libby, 206–7.
3 . Heine, “Zweiter Brief aus Berlin” (March 16, 1822), in Sämtliche Schriften , ed. K. Briegleb, Munich, 1959, II, 25f.; Bauer, I, 213.
4 . Jules [Julius] Benedict, Weber , London, 1881, 62.
5 . Ibid., 66.
6 . The Mendelssohns had apparently dined with Weber on June 19, the day after the premiere of Der Freischütz . See Petitpierre, Romance , 100.
7 . Benedict, Weber , 73.
8 . Libby, 282.
9 . Fanny to Felix, October 29/30 1821, in Citron: 1987, 2.
10 . August 20–September 20, 1821, Hecker, II, 228.
11 . Zelter to Goethe, October 22, 1821, Hecker, II, 139.
12 . “Memoir of Ernest-Florens-Friederich Chladni,” Harmonicon 10 (1832), 163.
13 . Chladni provided drawings of more than one hundred patterns in Entdeckungen über die Theorie des Klanges , Leipzig, 1787; rep. Leipzig, 1980.
14 . E. F. F. Chladni, Beyträge zur praktischen Akustik , Leipzig, 1821; rep. 1980, 134.
15 . Ibid., 165.
16 . Felix to Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy, October 30, 1821, in Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 1997, 9.
17 . Großmann-Vendrey: 1969, 17 (letter of February 4, 1822).
18 . November 1, 1821, in Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 1997, 10–11.
19 . Ibid.
20 . See Todd: 1991c, 163–71.
21 . In Felix’s letter of November 4, 1821, to Berlin (NYPL No. 4).
22 . Boyle, 233; F. R. Karl, George Eliot: Voice of a Century , N.Y., 1995, 180.
23 . T. J. Reed, Goethe , Oxford, 1984, 29.
24 . Steiger and Reimann, VII, 66 (July 14, 1821).
25 . Warrack: 1968, 304.
26 . Ulrike von Pogwisch (1804–1899), sister of Ottilie.
27 . November 6, 1821, Felix to Abraham; MLL , 8.
28 . MF I, 90.