Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809 – 1847), born, and generally known in English-speaking countries, as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period.

Mendelssohn was a true Renaissance man. A talented visual artist, he was a refined connoisseur of literature and philosophy. While Mendelssohn's name rarely arises in discussions of the nineteenth century vanguard, the intrinsic importance of his music is undeniable. A distinct personality emerges at once in its exceptional formal sophistication, its singular melodic sense, and its colorful, masterful deployment of the instrumental forces at hand. A true apotheosis of life, Mendelssohn's music absolutely overflows with energy, ebullience, drama, and invention, as evidenced in his most enduring works: the incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream (1826-1842); the Hebrides Overture (1830); the Songs Without Words (1830-1845); the Symphonies No. 3 (1841-1842) and No. 4 (1833); and the Violin Concerto in E minor (1844). While the sunny disposition of so many of Mendelssohn's works has led some to view the composer as possessing great talent but little depth, his religious compositions -- particularly the great oratorios Paulus (1836) and Elijah (1846) -- reflect the complexity and deeply spiritual basis of his personality.

In December 1832 and January 1833, Mendelssohn wrote a pair of works for a trio of clarinet, piano, and the now nearly arcane basset horn: the Concert Piece No. 1 in F major, Op. 113, and the Concert Piece No. 2 in D minor, Op. 114. Mendelssohn dispatched these two works immediately upon completion to clarinetist Heinrich Baermann and his son Carl, a basset horn player, who were touring Germany and Russia at the time. As tokens of the composer's personal friendship with the Baermanns (and his desire to help young Carl establish his career as a professional composer), the two Concert Pieces stand as the only compositions for basset horn in Mendelssohn's oeuvre.

Of all the nearly forgotten music by Mendelssohn, the most nearly completely forgotten is his music for chorus. Only his songs come close to being as almost entirely ignored, but because a few of them have earned a place in the recital hall, even they have a more prominent place in the repertoire.

Although originally created for accompanied Chorus (SATB), I created this arrangement for Solo Concert (Pedal) Harp.