Mendelssohn: A Life in MusicOxford University Press, 2003 M10 23 - 736 páginas An extraordinary prodigy of Mozartean abilities, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy was a distinguished composer and conductor, a legendary pianist and organist, and an accomplished painter and classicist. Lionized in his lifetime, he is best remembered today for several staples of the concert hall and for such popular music as "The Wedding March" and "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing." Now, in the first major Mendelssohn biography to appear in decades, R. Larry Todd offers a remarkably fresh account of this musical giant, based upon painstaking research in autograph manuscripts, correspondence, diaries, and paintings. Rejecting the view of the composer as a craftsman of felicitous but sentimental, saccharine works (termed by one critic "moonlight with sugar water"), Todd reexamines the composer's entire oeuvre, including many unpublished and little known works. Here are engaging analyses of Mendelssohn's distinctive masterpieces--the zestful Octet, puckish Midsummer Night's Dream, haunting Hebrides Overtures, and elegiac Violin Concerto in E minor. Todd describes how the composer excelled in understatement and nuance, in subtle, coloristic orchestrations that lent his scores an undeniable freshness and vividness. He also explores Mendelssohn's changing awareness of his religious heritage, Wagner's virulent anti-Semitic attack on Mendelssohn's music, the composer's complex relationship with his sister Fanny Hensel, herself a child prodigy and prolific composer, his avocation as a painter and draughtsman, and his remarkable, polylingual correspondence with the cultural elite of his time. Mendelssohn: A Life offers a masterful blend of biography and musical analysis. Readers will discover many new facets of the familiar but misunderstood composer and gain new perspectives on one of the most formidable musical geniuses of all time. |
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Página xiv
... number of conversations at our common lunch table that turned inexplicably toward the topic of Mendelssohn, a collective thank you. Several institutions have generously granted permission to publish illustrations and/or provided ...
... number of conversations at our common lunch table that turned inexplicably toward the topic of Mendelssohn, a collective thank you. Several institutions have generously granted permission to publish illustrations and/or provided ...
Página 5
... number of pieces from the Royal Porcelain Works, which Frederick the Great wished to promote in this manner. It was not enough that this was a real financial hardship at times, but the Jews had no right to select their own figurines and ...
... number of pieces from the Royal Porcelain Works, which Frederick the Great wished to promote in this manner. It was not enough that this was a real financial hardship at times, but the Jews had no right to select their own figurines and ...
Página 13
... number began to rise, so that in 1800 twenty-five Berliners left Judaism, a number that increased to nearly eighty per year by 1830,48 prompting some to liken the trend of apostasy to an “epidemic of baptism” (Taufepidemie). Several ...
... number began to rise, so that in 1800 twenty-five Berliners left Judaism, a number that increased to nearly eighty per year by 1830,48 prompting some to liken the trend of apostasy to an “epidemic of baptism” (Taufepidemie). Several ...
Página 62
... number of contrapuntal exhibits. The finales of Nos. 5 and 6 bristle with fugatos, but a more erudite display occurs in the slow movement of No. 2. Conceived as a baroque trio sonata, the Andante weaves together two melodic strands in ...
... number of contrapuntal exhibits. The finales of Nos. 5 and 6 bristle with fugatos, but a more erudite display occurs in the slow movement of No. 2. Conceived as a baroque trio sonata, the Andante weaves together two melodic strands in ...
Página 65
... numbers in orchestral score with little advice from family or friends—and, evidently, without Zelter's direct supervision. Felix accomplished this extraordinary feat in about ten weeks, and the work was performed with piano ...
... numbers in orchestral score with little advice from family or friends—and, evidently, without Zelter's direct supervision. Felix accomplished this extraordinary feat in about ten weeks, and the work was performed with piano ...
Contenido
The Road to Damascus | 199 |
Elijahs Chariot | 345 |
Abbreviations | 571 |
Notes | 573 |
Bibliography | 629 |
Index of Mendelssohns Works | 645 |
General Index | 653 |
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Términos y frases comunes
Abraham Andante appeared April aria August autograph Bach’s bass Beethoven’s Berlin cantata Cécile chorale chords chorus com composer composer’s composition con concert counterpoint December Devrient duet Düsseldorf Eduard Elijah English Fanny Fanny Hensel Fanny’s February Felix Mendelssohn Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Felix to Lea festival final Frankfurt French fugue German Gewandhaus Goethe Goethe’s Handel’s Henriette Hensel Hiller Ibid J. S. Bach January July June Klingemann Kraków later Leipzig Letters libretto Lied ohne Worte Lieder London major March Marx MDM GB melody Mendelssohn Bartholdy Midsummer Night’s Dream minor Moscheles Moses Moses Mendelssohn movement Mozart musicians November numbers NYPL October opera oratorio orchestra organ overture Paulus performed pianist Piano Concerto played premiere Prussian Psalm published Rebecka rehearsals Robert Schumann scherzo Schubring score September Singakademie solo soloists song soprano String Quartet Symphony theme tion Trio verses violin Ward Jones Weber Wilhelm Wilhelm Hensel Zelter