Zugl.: Leipzig, Univ., Diss., 2006

Diss.--Tübingen, 2001--Eberhard-Karls-Univ. / Sources et bibliogr. p. 181-192. Index.

Thesis (D.M.A.)--Conservatory of Music. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2007. / "A dissertation in performance." Typescript. Advisor: William A. Everett. Vita. Title from "catalog record" of the print edition Description based on contents viewed Feb. 08, 2008 Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-136). Online version of the print edition.

No description available.

Treatise (D.M.A.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Indiana University, 2007. / Computer printout. Includes abstract and vita. "Appendix, Scores for songs discussed in this dissertation": leaves 207-270. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 271-275).

Treatise (D.M.A.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Inaug.-Diss.--Frankfurt a. Main. / Lebenslauf. "Anhang: Sechs bisher unveröffentlichte Lieder Mendelssohns": p. 155-166. "Verzeichnis der benutzten Litertur": p. 150-153.

Felix Mendelssohn was a many-faceted individual. While known now primarily as a composer, in his time he was also important as a virtuoso pianist and conductor. His contribution to the musical life of his time and to posterity is significant. As well as composing for nearly every genre (see Table 1) Mendelssohn was a popular soloist and dominated German conducting from 1830 until his death in 1847. Over the years his popularity has waxed and waned. The works of Mendelssohn were highly regarded during his lifetime and remained popular until about 1900. Around 1900, however, there was a major shift in opinion. At this time, his music was considered to be mediocre. The rise of anti-Semitism in Germany during the twentieth century caused a further underrating of Mendelssohn's music in his homeland. It is hoped that this, and other present-day studies, will offer a more objective view of his music. As is true with most composers, in the body of Mendelssohn's compositions, one can find individual pieces to support either greatness or mediocrity. The music which is most familiar to the public: Italian and Scottish symphonies, the Hebrides and Overture and Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night's Dream orchestral overtures, and the String Octet in E-flat Major are undoubtedly some of Mendelssohn's best. On the other hand, his operas never have been effective. Even at the end of his life, he was still searching for the perfect libretto. But it is inconsistent writing within individual pieces which is the most frustrating aspect of Mendelssohn's music. The first cello sonata is one such example. Here a solid first movement is followed by two weak ones. Included in the total number of pieces of chamber music on Table 1, are the four pieces that Mendelssohn composed for cello and piano. They consist of two short pieces and two sonatas, and were written over a sixteen year span (see Table 3, page 8). This paper aims to familiarize the reader with these cello works, investigate them in terms of the criticisms leveled at Mendelssohn's music, and examine their contribution and place in today's literature for the violoncello.

The reputation of Mendelssohn's music has suffered more than that of most major composers of his era from the vicissitudes of musical taste. From the beginning, the general public felt drawn to his simple lyricism and vitality, expressed within clearly ordered, easily understandable musical structures. Performers and critics at first responded with the same warm enthusiasm, but later became caught up in sweeping changes of musical style and in political propaganda which denounced Mendelssohn's work for non-musical reasons. Until recently his music has rarely received an objective evaluation. During his lifetime his music was received with almost universal acclaim. To the public, even to the most conservative elements of Victorian society, it had an immediate emotional appeal, while professional musician appreciated his polished craftsmanship. Performances of his works were greeted with the eager excitement described in the following London Times review of the oratorio Elijah: "It was as if enthusiasm, long checked, had suddenly burst its bonds and filled the air with shouts of exultation." His friend and colleague Robert Schumann called him a "god among men," and described him thus: "He is the Mozart of the nineteenth century, the brightest musician who most clearly fathoms, and then reconciles the contradictions of our time -- classicism and romanticism." In another comment, Schumann pays tribute to the ease and elegance of his compositional technique: "Mendelssohn I consider the first musician of this day...He plays with everything, especially with the grouping of the instruments in the orchestra, but with such ease, delicacy and art, and with such mastery throughout."