Mendelssohn: A Life in Music

by Todd, R. Larry

  28 . Felix to Bartholomew, October 4, 1841, Polko: 1987, 179.

  29 . Bartholomew to Felix, October 25, 1841, MDM GB XIV, 132.

  30 . Ibid., November 23, 1841, MDM GB XIV, 185.

  31 . Felix to Bartholomew, July 1842, Polko: 1987, 181.

  32 . Felix to Boettger, December 10, 1841, in GM , 195.

  33 . Schumann, Tagebücher , II, 192.

  34 . Ed. by Liana Gavrila Serbescu and Barbara Heller, 2 vols., Kassel, 1989.

  35 . For a facs. see Fanny Hensel, Das Jahr, zwölf Charakterstücke (1841) für das Fortepiano, illustrierte Reinschrift mit Zeichnungen von Wilhelm Hensel , ed. B. Borchard, Kassel, 2000; see also Thorau.

  36 . See also Toews.

  37 . For example, Nubbemeyer: 1997.

  38 . See Rothenberg, 704.

  39 . A. Walker, 372.

  40 . Ludwig Rellstab, Franz Liszt: Beurtheilungen, Berichte, Lebensskizze , Berlin, 1842, 2–5; trans. in Adrian Williams, Portrait of Liszt, Oxford, 1990, 177–78.

  41 . Felix to Ferdinand David, February 5, 1842, LA , 174.

  42 . Felix to Liszt, February 1, 1842, in La Mara, I, 38.

  43 . E. Devrient, Recollections , 233.

  44 . MDM, GB XV, 20.

  45 . AmZ 44 (1842), 234; E. Devrient, Recollections , 234.

  46 . MDM a.1 (Roll), no. 6.

  47 . Meyerbeer, III, 393.

  48 . Kraków, MN 36.

  49 . Sterndale Bennett, 123.

  50 . Felix to David, February 16, 1842, LA , 175.

  51 . AmZ 44 (1842), 254.

  52 . Dörffel, 99.

  53 . See Seaton: 1977, 212ff. Seaton has located some rejected pages in score for the symphony (DSB MN 19) that also contain sketches for Antigone , and partly from this evidence dated the principal work on the symphony to fall 1841.

  54 . AmZ 44 (1842), 258.

  55 . NZfM 18 (1843), 155.

  56 . Todd: 1984. John Daverio has argued for a similar case for Robert Schumann in “Schumann’s Ossianic Manner,” 19 CM 21 (1998), 247–73.

  57 . Felix to J. P. E. Hartmann, December 30, 1840, Copenhagen, Royal Library, Musikforeningens Arkiv. The correspondence with Hartmann is given in Harwell, 239–40.

  58 . Oxford, Bodleian Library, Deneke 206 (2), arrangement for piano duet.

  59 . Ossians Digte , Copenhagen, 1807–09. See Harwell, 205f., for a transcription of the program, recorded in Gade’s composition diary, and 128ff. for a discussion.

  60 . Grey: 1997, 55ff.

  61 . Felix to David, March 12, 1842, LA , 178.

  62 . Mercer-Taylor: 1995. To bolster his case, the author seeks to establish similarities between the A-major coda and the Lied from Felix’s Festgesang for the 1840 Gutenberg festival (specifically, the melody later recast as “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”). These similarities seem more coincidental than conclusive; still, Felix’s reference to a Männerchor suggests he had in mind here a German part-song, probably a Volkslied and not an English glee.

  63 . Ludwig Finscher, “‘Zwischen absoluter und Programmusik’: Zur Interpretation der deutschen romantischen Symphonie,” in C.-H. Mahling, ed., Über Symphonien: Beiträge zu einer musikalischen Gattung , Tutzing, 1979, 115.

  64 . Felix to K. H. Hergel, August 1, 1840, BN Lettres autographes Mend. 9.

  65 . Felix to Buxton, March 5, 1842, LC (Music 1055).

  66 . E. Devrient, Recollections , 235–36.

  67 . Wagner to Eduard Avenarius, May 3, 1842, in Richard Wagner, Sämtliche Briefe , ed. G. Strobel and W. Wolf, Leipzig, 1970, II, 76.

  68 . See Wagner’s letter to G. E. Anders, May 13, 1842, in ibid., II, 92.

  69 . F. Hensel, 209 (entry of June 1, 1842).

  70 . Esser, 61.

  71 . Schorn, I, 149.

  72 . Ibid., I, 150.

  73 . Letters to Lea and Paul, May 13 and 29, 1842, NYPL Nos. 521 and 604.

  74 . Cécile to Elizabeth Jeanrenaud, May 29, 1842, MDM d 19.

  75 . F. Hensel, 209 (entry of June 1, 1842).

  76 . Felix to Klingemann, September 13, 1842, Klingemann, 271.

  77 . “Mendelssohn in England: A Centenary Tribute,” MT 50 (1909), 88. The autographs are in Berlin, MN 20, 1–3.

  78 . A facs. of the Ms. is in MT 50 (1909), following 88.

  79 . MDM d. 56/1–2; on the history of the pieces see MT 32 (1891), 592 and 42 (1901), 807. A twentieth-century edition of Op. 72 (ed. H. C. Hiekel, Munich, 1969) includes as a seventh piece an Andante in E ♭ ; the other piece, a Sostenuto in F, remains unpublished.

  80 . The Austrian national anthem, originally composed for the emperor’s birthday and incorporated into Haydn’s String Quartet Op. 76 No. 3.

  81 . “Elizabeth Mounsey,” MT 46 (1905), 719.

  82 . Rockstro, 81–82.

  83 . Felix to Paul, June 17, 1842, NYPL No. 526; Felix to Lea, June 21-22, 1842, P. Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 1868, 255; and MT 50 (1909), 88.

  84 . The Musical World , June 16, 1842; Foster, 173n.

  85 . J. R. Sterndale Bennett, 143.

  86 . W. Watts to Felix, June 27, 1842, MDM GB XV, 298.

  87 . Felix to Paul, June 17, 1842, NYPL No. 526.

  88 . Phillips: 1864, II, 237ff.

  89 . Rockstro, 83–84. The Ms. was the so-called London autograph of the second volume, formerly owned by Muzio Clementi and purchased at auction by Emett in 1832. It came to the British Museum in 1896 (Add. Ms. 35021). For a facs. see J. S. Bach, Das wohltemperirte Clavier II , ed. Don Franklin and Stephen Daw (London, 1980).

  90 . Felix to Lea, July 19, 1842, MF II, 169.

  91 . Felix to an unidentified court official, June 4, 1842, in English; Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg.

  92 . Felix to Paul, in a postscript to Cécile’s letter to Lea dated June 14, 1842, NYPL No. 536.

  93 . Felix to Lea, June 21, 1842, P. Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 1868, 254, silently blended into which is a relevant passage from Felix to Paul, June 17, 1842, NYPL No. 526.

  94 . Marek, 293.

  95 . Felix to Lea, July 19, 1842, MF II, 168–71.

  96 . MDM GB VIII, 160.

  97 . Arnold Niggli, Die Schweizerische Musikgesellschaft , Zurich, 1886, cited in Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 1954, 31–32.

  98 . See Wanner, 14.

  99 . Now in Berlin, MA Ms. 21; for a facs. of the entire album, see F. Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 1954; the second album, with entries from August 2 to August 30, is in MDM e. 1; of the third, only one drawing has survived (see n. 105).

  100 . Felix to Klingemann, September 13, 1842, Klingemann, 272.

  101 . Genast, III, 217–18.

  102 . Felix to Lea, August 18, 1842, in MLL , 257.

  103 . For a facs. see F. Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 1954.

  104 . See Grumbacher and Rosenthal, 123–29.

  105 . Now lost. One page, formerly belonging to Hugo von Mendelssohn of Basel, is reproduced in W. Reich: 1947, 9. It contains an incomplete sketch of Wolfenschiessen.

  106 . Felix to Lea, September 3, 1842, in Wanner, 6.

  107 . Felix to Simrock, September 21, 1842, BadV , 234–36.

  108 . Hiller, Letters , 183; the sketch, dated September 15, 1842, is reproduced as a frontispiece to the volume.

  109 . C. E. and M. Hallé, eds., Life and Letters of Sir Charles Hallé , London, 1896, 74.

  110 . AmZ 44 (1842), 829.

  111 . Schumann, Tagebücher II, 249.

  112 . Felix to Hiller, October 8, 1842, Hiller, Letters , 194.

  113 . Felix to von Küstner, October 15, 1842, LC (Music 1055).

  114 . M. A. Souchay to Felix, October 12, 1842, Bodleian, GB XVI, 69, trans. in Oliver Strunk, ed., Source Readings in Music History , rev. ed. by Ruth A. Solie, N.Y., 1998, VI, 158.

  115 . Felix to M. A. Souchay, Jr., October 15, 1842, in P. Mendelssohn Bartholdy: 1868, 269–71.

  116 . Op. 57 No. 5, Berlin MN 20, 5–6; Op. 63 No. 5, MN 20, 6–7.

  117 . Felix to Schleinitz, October 17, 1842, MLL , 259–60.

  118 . Felix to von Massow, October
23, 1842, P. Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Letters , 1868, 271.

  119 . Felix to Frederick William IV, October 28, 1842, ibid., 273–75. See also the account in F. Hensel, 213 (entry of November 2, 1842).

  120 . Felix to Stawinsky (Regisseur of the Royal Theater), November 4, 1842, LC (Music 1055).

  121 . Felix to Lea, December 11, 1842, P. Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Letters , 1868, 285.

  122 . E. Newman, I, 347.

  123 . Cosima Wagner, II, 138.

  124 . Felix to Fanny, November 16, 1842, MF II, 176.

  125 . Decree of Frederick William IV, November 22, 1842, in MDM GB XVI, 126/27; see also Dinglinger: 1997b, 27.

  126 . Felix to Paul, December 5, 1842, P. Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Letters , 1868, 283; Felix to Frederick William IV, December 4, 1842, MLL , 260.

  127 . Felix to Lea, December 11, 1842, P. Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Letters , 1868, 285.

  128 . For an account, see F. Hensel, 217–19 (entry of January 2, 1843).

  129 . MF II, 179.

  130 . Felix to Klingemann, January 17, 1843, Klingemann, 278.

  131 . Felix to Paul, December 22, 1842, P. Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Letters , 1868, 291.

  Chapter 14

  1 . Felix to Hiller, January 19, 1843, Hiller Letters , 199.

  2 . Felix to Paul, January 5, 1843, NYPL No. 612; Felix to Hiller, January 19, 1843, Hiller, Letters , 199.

  3 . See Eppstein.

  4 . See Jost: 1988, 173ff.

  5 . Lowenthal-Hensel: 1990, 148. See also F. Hensel, 219–20 (entry of January 20, 1843).

  6 . E. B. Oliver to Felix, January 24, 1842 [recte 1843], MDM GB XVII, 44; and Felix to E. B. Oliver, January 26, 1843, Boston Public Library.

  7 . Joseph to Felix, MDM GB XVII, 51 (January 27, 1843); trans. in Brown: 2003, 85.

  8 . Felix to Spohr, January 26, 1843, MDM c. 42, fols. 27–28; Gade to Felix, January 28, 1843, in Gade, 25.

  9 . Felix to Berlioz, January 25, 1843, Berlioz, III, 60–61.

  10 . Cairns, 295.

  11 . See Holoman, 295–96.

  12 . Cairns, 295.

  13 . MF II, 185.

  14 . Cairns, 294.

  15 . Ibid., 297.

  16 . AmZ 45 (1843), 217–21.

  17 . F. Hensel, 221 (entry of March 13, 1843).

  18 . Cairns, 297–98.

  19 . For the complete program, see NZfM 18 (1843), 95–98.

  20 . Felix to Hiller, March 25, 1843, Hiller, Letters , 207.

  21 . Von Massow to Felix, March 27, 1843, MDM GB XVII, 161.

  22 . For the early history of the Domchor , see Scheumann: 1907/08; idem : 1908/09; Brodbeck: 1992, 3ff.; and Dinglinger: 1997b, 23ff.

  23 . Signale 1 (1843), 55; the date is sometimes given as April 2, which fell on a Sunday.

  24 . For a complete roster of students from 1843 to 1881, see Karl Whistling, Statistik des Königlichen Conservatoriums der Musik zu Leipzig: 1843 –1883 , n.p., 1883, reproduced in L. M. Phillips, 247–324.

  25 . Felix wrote a testimonial for Nottebohm that survives in the LC (March 15, 1843; Music 1055).

  26 . NZfM 18 (1843), 126.

  27 . Kämmerer Minckwitz to Felix, April 13, 1843, MDM GB XVII, 198, cited in Häfner, 246.

  28 . Richard Wagner, “Das Oratorium ‘Paulus’ von Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy,” in Wagner, Sämtliche Schriften und Dichtungen , Leipzig, 1912, XII, 149–50.

  29 . From the diploma awarding the honorary citizenship, cited in LA , 106n.

  30 . See Felix’s letter to Paul of April 18, 1843, in NYPL No. 621, the brief report in the NZfM 18 (1843), 144, and von Wasielewski: 1897, 36n.

  31 . See Pape, 29.

  32 . For their correspondence see especially LA , 19–44, and Feder and Hübner, 157–97.

  33 . Felix to Lea, December 11, 1842, P. Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Letters , 1868, 286; trans. modified from the autograph in NYPL No. 530.

  34 . See further, Pape, 37–40.

  35 . Felix to Fanny, May 2, 1843, in Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn, 364–65.

  36 . AmZ 45 (1843), 415.

  37 . J.-G. Prod’homme and A. Dandelot, Gounod (1818–1893): sa vie et ses oeuvres , Paris, 1911, 93.

  38 . Felix to von Massow, May 21, 1843, cited in Scheumann: 1908/09, 260.

  39 . Sebastian and Fanny Hensel to Felix, postmarked June 17, 1843, MDM GB XVII, 360.

  40 . Kraków, MN 38, 185–95; a modern ed. is in Richard Wagner, Sämtliche Werke: Band 16, Chorwerke , ed. R. Kapp, Mainz, 1993, 219–23; see also “Occasional Notes,” in MT 47 (1906), 385–86.

  41 . Wagner to Felix, June 3, 1843, in Wagner, Chorwerke , 177 (No. 501).

  42 . Wagner to Avenarius, July 13, 1843, in Spencer and Millington, 110; see also the documents assembled by Kapp (n. 40), 177–79.

  43 . Felix to Hiller, March 3, 1843, Hiller, Letters , 203.

  44 . MDM g. 6, fol. 27.

  45 . See Ward Jones: 1992, 251.

  46 . Including Opp. 59 No. 2-6, 88 Nos. 2 and 4, and 100 No. 2, all in Kraków, MN 38/2.

  47 . Max Thomas, Heinrich August Neithardt , diss., Freie Universität, Berlin, 1959, 80.

  48 . Felix to Paul, July 21 and 26, 1843, P. Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Letters , 1868, 303, 307–8.

  49 . Massow to Felix, July 12, 1843, MDM GB XVIII, 293. See also Brodbeck: 1992, 10–14; and Dinglinger: 1997b, 30–31.

  50 . Von Massow to Felix, July 14, 1843, MDM GB XVIII, 20.

  51 . The dated autograph is in Kraków, MN 38/2; a modern edition by Roe-Min Kok (Stuttgart, 1996) is available.

  52 . Fanny Hensel to Franz Hauser, August 10, 1843, in Hellwig-Unruh: 1997, 221; R. Werner, 111.

  53 . Felix to Paul, July 21, 1843, P. Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Letters , 1868, 304.

  54 . Felix to Rebecka, August 10, 1843, MF II, 197.

  55 . BN Conservatoire Ms. 190.