Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Vocal Duets: Alto: Vocal Work

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.

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: BR.SON-442

ISBN 9790004803509. 10 x 12.5 inches.

This volume contains three reworkings and orchestrations of religious works by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy which were originally set for smaller ensembles (solo voices, four-part chorus and organ). They were composed at different times and for different occasions, two of them as commissions. The anthem ,,Why, o Lord, delay forever MWV A 19 was originally the sacred vocal piece MWV B 33, published in England in 1841 with the additional title ,,[…] The Thirteenth Psalm, and in Germany in the same year as ,,Lass, o Herr, mich Hilfe finden with the title ,,Drei geistliche Lieder which was composed at the suggestion of the English literature and music lover Charles B. Broadley who also provided the paraphrase of the psalm text. After Mendelssohn had refused an initial request by Broadley to furnish the anthem post festum with an organ prelude, the composer did not want to turn down a second request to orchestrate the work and he even expanded the existing material with a lengthy closing fugue involving additional trumpets and timpani. The ,,Ave Maria MWV B 19 was written in connection with Mendelssohn's appointment as municipal music director, a position which at the same time included the responsibility for the musical organization of church services. The instrumentation of the work with an accompaniment of two clarinets and two bassoons as well as low strings was due to the fact that the organ in Dusseldorf's principal church St. Lambertus was out of order for an extended period of time, and Mendelssohn considered this solution explicitly only as a surrogate for the organ should there be none. A further psalm paraphrase in English, this time by William Bartholomew, of the hymn ,,Hear my prayer MWV B 49 was set to music in early 1844; the orchestration of the organ part commissioned by the distinguished Dublin musician Joseph Robinson was not completed until 1847 so that the premiere finally only took place after Mendelssohn's death. In the further course of the century ,,Hear my prayer would, particularly in the version with organ accompaniment, come to enjoy great popularity in Great Britain and Ireland.

SKU: BR.SON-453

ISBN 9790004803639. 10 x 12.5 inches.

This Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy anthology contains 19 sacred vocal works in various choral and sometimes additional solo settings, with organ, harpsichord, or basso continuo accompaniment. Among these pieces composed from 1821 to 1847 are six works that were not published during Mendelssohn's lifetime. Seven of the works presented are each extant in at least one other authorized version that has also been edited here. The occasions and circumstances of their composition vary as much as their musical structures and characteristics: Several were intended for specific performances; others were written from the outset for publication.

SKU: BR.SON-426

ISBN 9790004803073. 10 x 12.5 inches.

Elijah - Early Versions document a decade that ranges from the first conceptional ideas of 1837, hence directly after the completion of St. Paul, to the world premiere of Elijah on 26 August 1846. Mendelssohn had already worked out the plan for a libretto with his friend Carl Klingemann in 1837. Shortly thereafter, Klingemann sent a text which the composer then passed on to his friend, the theologian Julius Schubring. Then began a breathtaking logistical marathon in which Mendelssohn, during the final phase, raced to prepare the world premiere in Birmingham from Leipzig, while simultaneously taking the elaboration of the libretto increasingly into his own hands; indeed, he was, as usual, still changing, deleting, and even adding entirely new numbers at the rehearsals - with the result that the performance was ultimately only an essay, a pre-world premiere of the great work which he was later to subject to several more revisions.

Awarded the German Music Edition Prize 2023.

SKU: BA.BA09071-91

ISBN 9790006565467. 27 x 19 cm inches. Text Language: German, English.

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy completed his first oratorio - St. Paul , op. 36 - in 1836, at the age of twenty-seven.

The first version, which was premiered on 22 May 1836, was then extensively revised by the composer. This second version, which at the same time served as the basis for the published version, was premiered as early as October that year in Birmingham . The acclaim with which the oratorio was received was exceptional. Within eighteen months of completing the score, Mendelssohn was able to list fifty performances of the work. Robert Schumann praised the work effusively and even Richard Wagner, who later denigrated Mendelssohn, was full of admiration. Today, St. Paul belongs to the core repertoire of sacred choral music.

This Urtext edition of the oratorio, edited by the internationally-recognise d Mendelssohn scholar Michael Cooper is based on all critical sources. As well as the principal version of the work, the score also includes for the first time numbers which were composed for the first version and subsequently removed. This gives not only an insight into the history of the composition of the work, but also, with the complete performing material, into the performance of the original version. The appendices (first version) which appear in the full score and vocal score are not contained in this choral score.

The full score and vocal score include the German and English texts of the oratorio.

The vocal score is by Mendelssohn.

- Urtext edition, representing the latest musicological research
- Vocal texts in German and English
- Supplements the already existing material available to this work

About Barenreiter Urtext

What can I expect from a Barenreiter Urtext edition?< /p>

MUSICOLOGICA LLY SOUND
- A reliable musical text based on all available sources
- A description of the sources
- Information on the genesis and history of the work
- Valuable notes on performance practice
- Includes an introduction with critical commentary explaining source discrepancies and editorial decisions

... AND PRACTICAL
- Page-turns, fold-out pages, and cues where you need them
- A well-presented layout and a user-friendly format
- Excellent print quality
- Superior paper and binding