Book Description
An extraordinary prodigy of Mozartean abilities, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy was a distinguished composer and conductor, a legendary pianist and organist, and an accomplished painter and classicist. Lionized in his lifetime, he is best remembered today for several staples of the concert hall and for such popular music as "The Wedding March" and "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing." Now, in the first major Mendelssohn biography to appear in decades, R. Larry Todd offers a remarkably fresh account of this musical giant, based upon painstaking research in autograph manuscripts, correspondence, diaries, and paintings. Rejecting the view of the composer as a craftsman of felicitous but sentimental, saccharine works (termed by one critic "moonlight with sugar water"), Todd reexamines the composer's entire oeuvre, including many unpublished and little known works. Here are engaging analyses of Mendelssohn's distinctive masterpieces--the zestful Octet, puckish Midsummer Night's Dream, haunting Hebrides Overtures, and elegiac Violin Concerto in E minor. Todd describes how the composer excelled in understatement and nuance, in subtle, coloristic orchestrations that lent his scores an undeniable freshness and vividness. He also explores Mendelssohn's changing awareness of his religious heritage, Wagner's virulent anti-Semitic attack on Mendelssohn's music, the composer's complex relationship with his sister Fanny Hensel, herself a child prodigy and prolific composer, his avocation as a painter and draughtsman, and his remarkable, polylingual correspondence with the cultural elite of his time. Mendelssohn: A Life offers a masterful blend of biography and musical analysis. Readers will discover many new facets of the familiar but misunderstood composer and gain new perspectives on one of the most formidable musical geniuses of all time.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent biography of a great musician we do not pay enough attention to nowadays.......2005-12-27
Felix Mendelssohn lived only thirty-eight years (Feb 1809- Nov 1847) and yet he had a profound impact on the way Art Music continues to be enjoyed in our time even if he is himself unjustly too far from the public consciousness and his musical works not, while not unperformed, are not performed nearly enough considering their musical quality and artistic merit. He was a man of prodigious genius, manifold talents, and a genuinely gracious and generous man. All rare gifts in this world.
This excellent and much needed modern biography of this most important musician was written by R. Larry Todd. The author gave the book a perfect subtitle - "A Life in Music" because Mendelssohn's whole life, since his early accomplishments as a prodigy, was devoted to composing, performing, conducting, and championing past composers such as Bach and newer young composers and performers who shared his views on the musical arts. The book makes very enjoyable reading because of the way Todd intertwines the life and the music that came out of it. Mendelssohn, like some but more than many composers, wrote and modified pieces for specific occasions and for certain performers. I found the numerous musical examples to be well chosen and illuminating. However, if you cannot read music, you can still understand what they author is saying form his clear and to the point prose.
Felix's grandfather was the famous philosopher Moses Mendelssohn and his father, Abraham, was a prominent banker so Felix and extremely talented sister Fanny did not have to struggle to develop their talents. Abraham converted to Christianity and his children were raised with a Christian faith. Felix's Protestant faith was clear in his music to the day he died even though that aspect of his life is downplayed too much nowadays. Both Fanny and Felix were brilliant piano virtuosos and Felix was also a virtuoso on the organ and violin. They both composed well, but more emphasis was placed on Felix because he was the male and, from available evidence, the greater genius.
It was natural to compare Felix to Mozart, as young prodigies are too this day. In Felix's case it was a warranted comparison, even if his art was not as transcendent as Mozart's. Felix was a brilliant improviser. While every well trained keyboardist (especially organists) were expected to be able to improvise any number of pieces and styles upon provided material, or on material they made up, the kind of ability that Mendelssohn had in this area was beyond brilliant. He was not only capable of solving canons on the fly or harmonizing and making variations on a chorale, he could also turn the subject into a fugue, a double fugue, and more.
Then there is also his memory. There was a concert series where he was repeating a Schubert trio that he had performed a month earlier. However, the music for the piece was only on the stands for the string players. No problem, Mendelssohn played the piano part from memory. However, in order to not draw attention to himself and make his memory the point of the performance, he had the page turner just reach up and turn the pages of whatever was on the music rack to make it look like he was reading from the score!
He could also draw and paint beautifully. Professor Todd provides us with many beautiful samples of Mendelssohn's work and it is very beautiful. Fanny also married an artist and it was he who drew Fanny shortly before her premature death and Felix upon his death bed a few months later. Mendelssohn traveled widely. Like many other young men from wealthy families, he went on a grand tour of Europe and met many of the important people of his day, both artists and men of position in government and business. He always impressed people favorably because of his personal grace, great talents, and, well, charisma. It was a different kind of magnetism than, say, a Liszt. But Mendelssohn had it nonetheless. People were excited when he walked into a room. Musicians played better under his leadership.
And though I believe Mendelssohn is no less a victim of a change in taste than was J. S. Bach was in Felix's day, I know he is a great composer who deserves more attention than he gets in the current repertoire. His symphonies are of high quality, his piano and organ music has much merit, and his oratorios were highly acclaimed and widely performed even in the mid-twentieth century. His songs were often sung, and his chamber music delighted both performers and listeners. So, what changed? Personally, I believe it is our present addiction to irony and a kind of narcissistic attachment to extremes. Mendelssohn does not offer this and so doesn't speak to many people. His music is full of great craft in counterpoint and harmony; his texts are full of health, love, devotion, pride, and faith. To some nowadays he sounds a bit corny. Like all great artists, he is a mirror in which we see ourselves clearly, but think we judge the artist who is actually above our judgment. And we come off poorly if we do not appreciate his genius.
So, if Mendelssohn is "forgotten" how does he affect our approach to Art Music (Classical Music) today? Simple. He was one of the first to lead the orchestra with a baton from the front, to great positive effect. He helped in the revival of J.S. Bach including the b-minor mass and the St. Matthew Passion. His approach to editing texts for publication looked toward our current standard of printing only what the composer wrote as an "Urtext" with editorial emendations clearly marked and separate if possible. He also helped form several great orchestras and when he traveled he helped raise the level of performers all over the world. These traditions live on. Would that we honor the man who authored them.
It is true that his own tendencies toward perfectionism prevented him from ever settling on a libretto for an opera, something he had always wanted to write. However, he left us much to appreciate and it is our fault if we don't explore his works and perform it in our homes, amateur ensembles, and professional musical organizations.
There is more that I could write, but most importantly go read this excellent book and listen to the music of this great man and genius of music.
A landmark in Mendelssohn scholarship.......2003-11-18
As a Mendelssohn specialist I pre-ordered this book, and have been working my way through it for the past few weeks. I cannot recommend it highly enough to anyone who is interested in this remarkable composer and his music. It has many points to commend it for scholars(extensive recourse to important but obscure archival documents, correction of major and minor factual errors that have persisted in all the previous Mendelssohn biographies, etc.), and just as much to commend it to general readerships: it's elegantly written, well balanced, informative on contextual, musical, and biographical fronts, etc. Fanny is arguably as present in the pages of this book as she was in Mendelssohn's life. And, not least of all, it's remarkably affordable. I am a former student of Professor Todd (having gotten my Ph.D. from Duke University in 1994), but can also say that I offer these remarks without any bias other than that of being one who admires the music and life of Mendelssohn.
If this reads like an endorsement, it is. I highly recommend the
volume to all who want to know more about Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy.
Book Description
Unlike most 19th Century composers who had to struggle to make a living, Felix Mendelssohn came from a very wealthy family. He never had to work, but he worked harder to fulfill his family's expectations than many who suffer poverty. He was an extremely gifted musical genius who wrote some of his best works while he was still a teenager.
Mendelssohn gained fame as a conductor, and as the organizer of many music festivals in Germany and in England where he was always enthusiastically welcomed. Unlike some composers who only performed their own work, Mendelssohn had a passion for presenting the best music of all periods. He was also very generous in helping younger composers by playing their work.
His weakness was being unable to say no to the many requests he received for performances. He was a perfectionist who devoted his energy to presenting the highest possible level of musical perfection. As his fame spread, he had little time left for his own compositions. Mendelssohn died at the age of 38, essentially from
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Hidden Music: The Life of Fanny Mendelssohn
Gloria Kamen
Manufacturer: Atheneum Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: School & Library Binding
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ASIN: 068931714X |
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Teaching Tool!.......2006-10-14
This book is special because it is one of the few books on classical, women composers aimed at middle school students. It explains in clear prose Fanny Mendelssohn's life and why she was not as famous as her brother, even though she was probably just as talented. Kamen examines the social structures that made it nearly impossible for women to perform and publish music without being looked at as plebeian. Although Kamen is slightly simplistic in her blaming of Fanny's brother, father and husband for her lack of fame, the book is aimed at middle school where a more complete, and therefor complex view of the situation might be too sophisticated for the average student to grasp. This book would be perfect for a middle school student interested in music to read, a music class to read as part of their study of the classical period, or any class that wishes to study the social status of women in the nineteenth century.
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- Fluent, clear guide to a much-maligned composer
- Tracing of Significant Composer
- An Extremely Enjoyable Experience
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The Life of Mendelssohn (Musical Lives)
Peter Mercer-Taylor
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Mendelssohn, Felix
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ASIN: 0521639727 |
Book Description
This biography of composer and pianist Felix Mendelssohn traces his development from musical child prodigy to a conductor whose influence as an advocate of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven is still felt to this day. A great deal of attention is paid to Mendelssohn's early nineteenth-century cultural surroundings and the book includes interpretation and discussion of major works, without use of musical examples or technical language, placing them within the context of his personal and public life. This is the first new biography of Mendelssohn to appear in some seventeen years.
Customer Reviews:
Fluent, clear guide to a much-maligned composer.......2004-03-08
Previously unfamiliar to me, Peter Mercer-Taylor is a fluent narrator (though he does not always write as well as he can, and at times lapses into Madison Avenue vulgarity). For all who esteem this much-maligned composer, Mercer-Taylor will prove an exceptionally clear guide to the surprisingly large amount of Mendelssohn's output which we almost never hear. I recently gave this book as a wedding present to a bride much enamoured of Mendelssohn's achievement; she seems to have found Mercer-Taylor thoroughly readable and satisfying.
Tracing of Significant Composer.......2003-05-01
Mendelssohn is traced through his life as to influences, both spiritually, musically and elsewhere.
Raised in upper class surroundings, he and sister Fanny were certainly cultivated in rich musical and literary heritage. So no surprise that Mendelssohn honored his musical heritiage and was fond of Bach especially.
Climb to fame capsulated well in this biographical look with specific references given at appropriate times on musical and theological insights. This all culminates late in his life with tension over all his duties both musically and family and they take their toil.
Never happy living in Germany, persistently traveling which also for sure took its toll. Creative output continues to reverberate throughtout concert halls.
Truly a tightly written account of significant musical contributor.
An Extremely Enjoyable Experience.......2001-04-04
With a smooth and easy-to-read style that is brimming with factual details and emotive feelings, Mr. Mercer-Taylor's writing provides a concise and highly articulate story of Felix Mendelssohn's life. Mendelssohn's many significant contributions as a composer, musician, conductor, teacher and adminstrator are presented in an interesting collage of personalities and historical events of the times. In particular, the author's description of Mendelssohn's music captures its essence perfectly. An extremely enjoyable reading experience.
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Felix Mendelssohn: A Life in Letters
Rudolf Elvers , and
Craig Tomlinson
Manufacturer: Froom Intl Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Mendelssohn, Felix
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ASIN: 0880641193 |
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Felix Mendelssohn: His Life, His Family, His Music
Herbert Kupferberg
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Mendelssohn, Felix
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ASIN: 0684129523 |
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The Life of Mendelssohn. (Book Reviews).: An article from: Notes
Clive Brown
Manufacturer: Music Library Association, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
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ASIN: B0008ILNIM
Release Date: 2005-07-28 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Notes, published by Music Library Association, Inc. on December 1, 2001. The length of the article is 768 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The Life of Mendelssohn. (Book Reviews).
Author: Clive Brown
Publication:
Notes (Refereed)
Date: December 1, 2001
Publisher: Music Library Association, Inc.
Volume: 58
Issue: 2
Page: 351(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
"Philosophy may be defined as the art of asking the right questions...Awareness of the problem outlives all solutions. The answers are questions in disguise, every new answer giving rise to new questions." This example of Rabbi Heschel's thought and manner of expression, familiar to the readers of his many books, serves as an epigraph to The Wisdom of Heschel.
As Ruth Goodhill says in her foreword, "These selections from the works of the prophetic giant of the twentieth century, Abraham Joshua Heschel, represent my personal response to his writings. This book, conceived during his lifetime, is offered as an introduction to his thought and to his profound understanding of the agonies of modern society."
Most of the selections are taken from God in Search of Man, The Insecurity of Freedom, Man Is Not Alone, The Sabbath, The Prophets, and Who Is Man? Among the categories in which the excerpts have been grouped are "Questions Man Asks, " "Man's Needs, " "Caring for Our Old, " "Teaching Our Young, " "Law, "" The Sabbath, " and "One World."
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To grow in wisdom
Abraham Joshua Heschel
Manufacturer: Synagogue Council of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: B0007FN0LY |
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The Wisdom of Heschel
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GU4JOW |
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The Wisdom of Heschel
Abraham Joshua Heschel
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Girous
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Heschel, Abraham Joshua
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ASIN: B000NUN0Q8 |
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The Wisdom of Heschel
Abraham Joshua Heschel
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
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Binding: Hardcover
Heschel, Abraham Joshua
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ASIN: B000PWF1EI |
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