Mendelssohn Remembered

by Roger Nichols

Although he died before his fortieth birthday, Felix Mendelssohn's accomplishments were many, beginning with his composition of a Piano Sonata in G minor at the age of eleven, and of his first Symphony at the age of fifteen. Best known as the composer of A Midsummer Night's Dream , and the Scotch (Third) Symphony , he was also a conductor, musicologist, teacher, painter, caricaturist, philospoher, founder of a Conservatory in Leipzig, husband, and the father of five children. To examine the many facets of Mendelssohn's character and to display the strikingly modern tone of his ideas on teaching, composition, and philosophy, Roger Nichols has culled excerpts from the letters, journals, reviews, and recorded conversations of a wide variety of Mendelssohn's family, friends, and acquaintances, including Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Hector Berlioz, Frederic Chopin, Robert and Clara Schumann, Richard Wagner and Queen Victoria.

As illustrative of Mendelssohn's personal life as it is of his musical achievement and forays into other artistic endeavours, Roger Nichols' wise selection and arrangement of texts has resulted in a book that is as accessible to anyone interested in nineteenth century cultural history as it is to the classical music afficionado.

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Algirdas Kraunaitis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of amusing but trivial recollections. Some clearly written after Mendelssohn's death and therefore overly generous (for one does not speak ill of the dead). A couple, those diary entries from England, felt honest, in comparison to everything else, to an embarrassing degree. The few entries by Wagner, quoted so many times in other publications, can be safely ignored. There were some odd comments here and there (what a minor sonata of Beethoven did Mendelssohn play?) and overall the book is an amusing read. It has some historical value, but not so much in its factual information, but just as a document.

[leon annis · Rating 5 out of 5]

masterpiece of a book. gives so much insight on Mendelssohn’s life, varying from himself and his circle to his musicianship. i recommend for musicologists and Mendelssohn lovers alike