Exploring many aspects of Felix Mendelssohn's multi-faceted career as musician and how it intersects with his work as composer, contributors discuss practical issues of music making such as performance space, instruments, tempo markings, dynamics, phrasings, articulations, fingerings, and instrument techniques. They present the conceptual and ideological underpinnings of Mendelssohn's approach to performance, interpretation, and composing through the contextualization of specific performance events and through the theoretic actualization of performances of specific works. Contributors rely on manuscripts, marked or edited scores, and performance parts to convey a deeper understanding of musical expression in 19th-century Germany. This study of Mendelssohn's work as conductor, pianist, organist, violist, accompanist, music director, and editor of old and new music offers valuable perspectives on 19th-century performance practice issues.
Mendelssohn in Performance Edited by
SIEGWART R EICHWALD Foreword by
CHRISTOPHER HOGWOOD
MENDELSSOHN IN PERFORMANCE
MENDELSSOHN IN PERFORMANCE
edited by Siegwart Reichwald foreword by christopher hogwood
INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS Bloomington and Indianapolis
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[email protected] © 2008 by Indiana University Press All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mendelssohn in performance / edited by Siegwart Reichwald ; foreword by Christopher Hogwood. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-253-35199-9 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix, 1809–1847. 2. Performance practice (Music)—Germany—History—19th century. I. Reichwald, Siegwart, date ML410.M5M58 2008 780.92—dc22 2008013739
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CONTENTS Foreword
christopher hogwood
vii
1. Mendelssohn’s Audience douglass seaton 2. Mendelssohn and the Piano kenneth hamilton 3. Mendelssohn and the Organ peter ward jones 4. The Performance of Mendelssohn’s Chamber and Solo Music for Violin clive brown 5. Mendelssohn and the Orchestra david milsom 6. Mendelssohn as Composer/Conductor: Early Performances of Paulus siegwart reichwald 7. From Drawing Room to Theater: Performance Traditions of Mendelssohn’s Stage Works monika hennemann 8. Mendelssohn and the Performance of Handel’s Vocal Works ralf wehner 9. From Notation to Edition to Performance: Issues in Interpretation john michael cooper 10. Mendelssohn’s Tempo Indications siegwart reichwald 11. “For You See I Am the Eternal Objector”: On Performing Mendelssohn’s Music in Translation john michael cooper List of Contributors 251 Index 253
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F O R E WO R D It is only recently that Mendelssohn has made the transition from being an “easy” composer to being a “composer with problems.” In his lifetime he, like Mozart, outlived his repu