SKU: BR.SON-437
ISBN 9790004803158. 10 x 12.5 inches.
Nine variegated Sacred Vocal Works with Orchestra by Mendelssohn have been compiled in this volume. They stem not only from various creative phases of the composer, but also in view of their vocal settings show up marked differences and thus reflect the variety of Mendelssohns creative oeuvre. One shared aspect is that all nine works remained unprinted during the composers lifetime. Only the Lauda Sion achieved celebrity; it was published with the posthumously attributed opus number 73 and took its place next to other choral works by Mendelssohn already in the 19th century. Now published within the Mendelssohn Complete Edition, it boasts a text-critically revised score available in many cases for the first time, and from which impulses for musical practice are sure to arise.
SKU: BA.BA11043
ISBN 9790006543229. 33.5 x 25.5 cm inches.
Manfred Trojahn on the origin and title of his impressive virtuoso solo work:Admittedly I do not know if he had seagulls, but since Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg, he will not have gone through life without at least the impression of the cry of seagulls. Nor do I know if seagulls played any part in his life in Rome. I myself was astonished when, one or two years ago in the Villa Massimo, I was, not exactly annoyed but disturbed by the strong rhythmical cry of seagulls. I was just about to write a bassoon solo when the seagulls started. Then the idea came to me that precisely this sequence of notes could serve as the basis of the work. And the sequence for the bassoon solo is, in turn, the basis of the piece for violoncello - this is how titles are born... Of course the violoncello meanders with virtuosic ease from the seagull motif to the 'elf-like' skittering brought to music by Mendelssohn and used time and again in his compositions, finally becoming a cabaletta. Now, cabalettas are not very representative of Mendelssohn, but as I was composing I definitely wanted to put a cabaletta in this passage. I am sure Mendelssohn and I will easily agree on this, especially since later justice is done to him in the rapid passages and, of course in the tonal cadenza at the very end, which is more indicative of his time than of mine ... isn't it?
SKU: HL.49033205
ISBN 9783795703837. German.
Bis vor wenigen Jahren wurde der Schauspielmusik, abgesehen von einzelnen herausragenden Werken, von der Musikwissenschaft kaum Beachtung geschenkt; eine historiographische Gesamtdarstellung bzw. editorische Auseinandersetzung steht noch aus. Gerade das letzte Drittel des 18. und das erste Drittel des 19. Jahrhunderts konnen als eine Blutezeit der Schauspielmusik angesehen werden. In diesen Jahrzehnten entstand nicht nur eine unuberschaubare Menge solcher Kompositionen; die Problematik der musikalischen Untermalung bzw. Bereicherung des Sprechtheaters wurde auch im asthetischen Diskurs, anknupfend an Gottsched, Scheibe und Lessing, immer wieder thematisiert. Am Beispiel ausgewahlter Buhnenwerke, beginnend mit Kompositionen von Johann Andre, G. J. Vogler und J. F. Reichardt bis hin zu Mendelssohn, Lortzing und Wagner, wird deutlich, wie verschiedenartig die Anspruche von Autoren und Theaterleitern in Bezug auf die Schauspielmusik sein konnten, und wie die unterschiedlichen Moglichkeiten der Theater-Ensembles die Komponisten beeinflussten. Die Spanne reicht von weitgehend beliebigen Arrangements mit grosstmoglichem 'Wiederverwendungswert' bis hin zu gross angelegten 'analogen', d. h. ausschliesslich auf ein bestimmtes Schauspiel bezogenen, vorbildhaften Kompositionen (z. B. Beethovens Egmont, Webers Preciosa, Mendelssohns Sommernachtstraum-Musik). Besonderes Interesse gilt der Problematik der Edition von Schauspielmusiken, die durch ihre enge Bindung an das Drama einen fachubergreifenden Austausch unter Literatur-, Theater- und Musikwissenschaftlern erforderlich macht. Hier zeigt sich, dass kaum eine 'Patentlosung' zu finden ist; vielmehr stellt jeder Komponist, jedes Werk andere Anspruche an den Editor. Ausgehend von einem Grundkonsens, der die wechselseitige Bedingtheit von Drama und Musik unterstreicht, fuhren nur individuelle, vom einzelnen Werk ausgehende Strategien zu einer adaquaten Wiedergabe in der Edition.
SKU: BR.SON-419
ISBN 9790004803059. 10 x 12.5 inches.
The year 1828 was a Durer Year (300th anniversary of death), and the Berlin Durer Festival was looking for a suitable composer to write the festival cantata. The renowned Carl Friedrich Zelter turned down the offer and recommended his pupil instead, the 18-year-old Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. He accepted, and, within a few weeks, the Festmusik MWV D1, was finished, his first full-scored sacred vocal work. Mendelssohns Festmusik subsequently fell into oblivion despite its much-applauded world premiere. The specific context and the rather wooden libretto most likely proved too prohibitive even though the young composer had given his best. This can now be confirmed for the first time by consulting the new printed edition.
