Mendelssohn

737 Pages·2004·11.52 MB·English

Mendelssohn:

A Life in Music

R. Larry Todd
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
MENDELSSOHN: A LIFE IN MUSIC
Pencil portrait of Felix by Wilhelm von Schadow, April 1834.
Mendelssohn

A Life in Music

n

R. Larry Todd
2003
Oxford New York
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Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Acknowledgments xiii

Genealogical Tree of the Itzig and Mendelssohn Families xv

Map: Principal Sites of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s Travels xviii

Preface xix

Prologue
Porcelain Monkeys and Family Identities 1

Part I: Precocious Deeds
1 In Nebel und Nacht: Hamburg to Berlin (1809–1819) 27

2 Apprenticed Prodigy (1820–1821) 52

3 The Second Mozart (1821–1822) 79

4 From Apprentice to Journeyman (1823–1824) 109

5 The Prodigy’s Voice (1825–1826) 136

6 In the Public Eye (1827–1829) 166

Part II: The Road to Damascus
7 Amateur Gentleman (1829) 201

vii
viii n con t e nt s
8 Wanderlust (1830–1832) 223

9 Düsseldorf Beginnings (1832–1835) 264

10 The Apostle’s Voice (1835–1837) 306

Part III: Elijah’s Chariot
11 Musical Biedermeier (1837–1839) 347

12 Leipzig vs. Berlin (1840–1841) 387

13 From Kapellmeister to Generalmusikdirektor (1841–1842) 418

14 Portrait of a Prussian Musician (1843–1844) 447

15 The Noon of Fame:Years of Triumph (1844–1846) 485

16 The Prophet’s Voice: Elijah’s Chariot (1846–1847) 525

Abbreviations 571

Notes 573

Bibliography 629

Index of Mendelssohn’s Works 645

General Index 653
Illustrations

Illustrations appear following p. 222
Frontispiece. Wilhelm von Schadow, pencil portrait of Felix, April
1834. Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin—Preußischer Kulturbesitz,
Musikabteilung mit Mendelssohn-Archiv, MA BA 135 (see p. 292);
autograph signature, letter of June 27, 1844, Rare Book, Manu­
script, and Special Collections Library, Duke University, Durham,
North Carolina
1. Moritz Oppenheim, Lavater and Lessing Visit Moses Mendelssohn,
1856. The Collection of The Judah L. Magnes Museum, San
Francisco, California (see p. 8)
2. Monkey figurine, from the estate of Moses Mendelssohn.
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin—Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Musik­
abteilung mit Mendelssohn-Archiv, MA Depos. MG Fot 5 (see p. 5)
3. Portraits of Felix and his siblings (1816), showing Fanny (age 11),
Felix (7), Paul (4), and Rebecka (5). The Bodleian Library, Univer­
sity of Oxford, MS. Eng. c. 2269, fols. 1–4 (see p. 32)
4. Karl Begas, oil sketch of Felix (1821). The Bodleian Library,

University of Oxford, M. Deneke Mendelssohn e. 5 (see p. 75)

5. Felix’s pen-and-ink drawing of Grindelwald Glacier, August 27,

1822. The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, M. Deneke

Mendelssohn c. 5, fol. 17 (see p. 100)

6. Wilhelm Hensel, pencil drawing of Fanny Mendelssohn Bartholdy
as Cecilia, patron saint of music, 1822. Staatsbibliothek zu
ix