Julie D. Prandi

John Michael Cooper

This is a compendium of scholarship concerning the lives, works, and receptions of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Fanny Hensel. Representing the latest work of leading specialists from the USA, France, Great Britain, and Italy, the essays are organized according to a number of issues thathave become vital during the past 20 years: sources and source problems--including the disposition of missing and lost works, issues of musical identity as they pertain to little-known concert arias, and editorial issues presented by the organ preludes op. 37; studies of individual works--includingFelix Mendelssohn's first composition, the 'Scottish' and 'Reformation' symphonies, and Die erste Walpurgisnacht); problematic repertoires--Felix's occasional works, song cycles, and opera plans; the relationships between Felix and Fanny; and issues of reception history--including Felix's influencesas composer of organ music and string quartets, and gender and race in biographical studies of Felix.

Their Music in History

The Mendelssohns

Angela R. Mace

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: A Research and Information Guide is a valuable tool for any scholar, performer, or music student interested in accessing the most pertinent resources on the life, works, and cultural context of the composer. It is an updated, annotated bibliography of resources on the biographical, musical, and religious aspects of Mendelssohn's life.

A Research and Information Guide

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy

This study of the composition, reception, extramusical implications and stylistic eclecticism of Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony devotes extensive attention to the differences between the posthumously published familiar version of the work and the composer's revision, which remained unpublised until 2001.

Mendelssohn's 'Italian' Symphony

Mendelssohn, Goethe, and the Walpurgis Night addresses tolerance and acceptance in the face of cultural, political, and religious strife. Its point of departure is the Walpurgis Night. The Night, also known as Beltane or May Eve, was supposedly an annual witches' Sabbath that centered around the Brocken, the highest peak of the Harz Mountains. After exploring how a notoriously pagan celebration came to be named after the Christian missionary St. Walpurgis (ca. 710-79), John Michael Cooper discusses the Night's treatments in several closely interwoven works by Goethe and Mendelssohn. His book situates those works in their immediate personal and professional contexts, as well as among treatments by a wide array of other artists, philosophers, and political thinkers, including Voltaire, Lessing, Shelley, Heine, Delacroix, and Berlioz. In an age of decisive political and religious conflict, Walpurgis Night became a heathen muse: a source of spiritual inspiration that was neither specifically Christian, nor Jewish, nor Muslim. And Mendelssohn's and Goethe's engagements with it offer new insights into its role in European cultural history, as well as into issues of political, religious, and social identity -- and the relations between cultural groups -- in today's world. John Michael Cooper is Professor of Music at Southwestern University and author of Mendelssohn's "Italian" Symphony (Oxford University Press).

The Heathen Muse in European Culture, 1700-1850

Mendelssohn, Goethe, and the Walpurgis Night

John M. Cooper

Angela R Mace

This book offers an annotated reference guide to the life and works of this important German composer. It opens with a historical overview of Mendelssohn's reception by contemporary and posthumous audiences and scholars, tracing the interactions between his reception and political and cultural events. It contains a complete annotated bibliography of the literature about Mendelssohn, including biographies, reviews, scholarly articles and interpretations, and reference material. It also offers important information on the Mendelssohn family, including Fanny Hensel, Felix's sister who was also a composer and musician. Cooper's work is the most up-to-date and thorough resource for students of Mendelssohn and his times.

A Guide to Research : with an Introduction to Research Concerning Fanny Hensel

The Historical Dictionary of Romantic Music covers the history of this period through a chronology, an introductory essay, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 500 cross-referenced entries on the most important traditions, famous pieces, persons, places, technical terms, and institutions of Romantic music. This book is a vital reference tool for students and teachers of music history, students and teachers and above all for lovers of Romantic music.

John Michael Cooper

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