sign in sign up
<<
Home , Felix Mendelssohn

XVII

Introduction

Felix Bartholdy’s Violin in ter season 1838/1839 1. The revision of the work dated 15 June op . 64 MWV O 14 is his final and, at the same time, most 1838 led to no conclusive results . Fragments of the revision important contribution to the genre of the concerto for solo reveal the composer’s efforts to cast the first movement into a instrument and . The work has been transmitted in technically brilliant, high-gloss work of the type expected from two versions; the present volume documents the early version, virtuoso performers back then . as it had been notated in the autograph score; it includes all the A letter of 30 July 1838 affirms that Mendelssohn was consid- emendations and bears the closing date 16 September 1844 . ering the possibility of writing a for David at Moreover, a number of diplomatic transcriptions of all surviv- that time as well, and that there was a plan to perform the work ing sketches and drafts of the work have also been reproduced as early as the 1838/39 concert season: “I would also like to here . The main version, which the composer approved for pub- write a violin concerto for you for next winter; there is one in E lication in 1845, is printed in Series II, Volume 7 of this edition, minor, whose beginning I cannot get out of my head ”. 2 David where the circumstances of the printing and early reception will welcomed his friend’s plan and told him on 3 August 1838: be examined in detail . “But if you write a violin concerto in E minor (which obviously awakens the gentle hope of a certain amount of within The Work: Inspiration and Inception me), then you would be the most divine of men, and I promise you to rehearse it so often that even the angels in heaven will Up until the publication of his Violin Concerto in 1845, Men- be delighted ”. 3 The concerto proposed by Mendelssohn was not delssohn had written chiefly concertante works for . A few only intended as a sign of the composer’s exceptional appreci- chamber-music and practice pieces from the early , ation for David; it also meant a highly welcome occasion for as well as the op . 4 MWV Q 12, were conceived for the violinist to expand his repertoire . Like the majority of the the violin as solo instrument, but only two concerto-like pieces virtuosos of his day, David mostly wrote the works that he per- from Mendelssohn’s earliest youth were created with this instru- formed as a soloist himself, thus giving free rein to the unique, ment in mind: the Concerto in for violin and string idiosyncratic style of writing that lets his talent shine and his orchestra MWV O 3 of 1822, and the , also playing dazzle . Sprinkled with a profusion of double stops, his in the same key, for violin, piano and orchestra MWV O 4 of Violin Concerto no . 1 in E minor op . 10 from the year 1839, 1823; neither, however, was published during the composer’s bears exuberant testimony to this . The mere insistence on vir- lifetime . Mendelssohn wrote all of these early works against the tuosity did not satisfy David very long, however, and he soon background of his very close friendship with the outstanding began to look for new and musically more challenging works violinist Eduard Ritz (1802–1832); a few of them were written again . Upon the return from his first concert tour to England in specifically for Ritz and dedicated to him as well . After Ritz’ June 1839, this problem had become more virulent than ever, early demise, the violin temporarily lost some of its signifi- especially since Mendelssohn did not step up his efforts to com- cance in the composer’s oeuvre . Mendelssohn’s renewed inter- plete the concerto, as had been the original plan . est in a serious approach to the form and function of a violin Thus on 16 July 1839, almost exactly one year after he had heard concerto was the result of a request made by another violinist: about Mendelssohn’s composition plans for the first time, David Ferdinand David (1810 –1873), with whom Mendelssohn had finally demanded results: “I am leading a very lonely existence been friends since his youth in , and whom he had helped here and composing and variations in my despair, but obtain the post of concertmaster at the Gewandhaus I am still making very little progress . It is difficult for me to Orchestra in February 1836 . David became a renewed source produce an adequate concerto form; I don’t want to write one of inspiration for the composer and an influential adviser who in three movements (perhaps because I can’t) and as to those in played a considerable role in the inception of further works for one movement, the form of the opening section does not satisfy the violin . Mendelssohn began by writing a large violin sonata me . Like so many other things, you understand this, too, and with piano accompaniment in (MWV Q 26) for his have proven it in the two concertos (of which, incidentally, I am friend, which he was intending to play with him in the win- increasingly growing fond of Number 2) . But face it, no one can

1 “I’ve finished the Violin Sonata, and I think that we shall be playing it together every now and then this coming winter […] ”. Letter to Ferdinand David of 15 June 1838, Stadtgeschichtliches Museum Leipzig (hereafter: D-LEsm), A/606/2007, printed in: Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Briefe aus Leipziger Archiven, ed . by Hans-Joachim Rothe and Reinhard Szeskus, Leipzig, 1972, pp . 140–141, quotation on p . 141 . 2 Letter to Ferdinand David of 30 July 1838, D-LEsm, A/607/2007, printed in: Ferdinand David und die Familie Mendelssohn-Bartholdy . Aus hinter­ lassenen Briefschaften zusammengestellt von (Compiled from estate papers and correspondence by) Julius Eckardt, Leipzig, 1888 (hereafter: Eckardt), pp . 93–96, quotation on p . 94 . 3 Letter from Ferdinand David to Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy of 3 August 1838, , University of Oxford (hereafter: GB-Ob), MS. M. Deneke Mendelssohn d. 34, Green Books VIII-27, printed in: Eckardt [note 2], pp . 96–97, quotation on p . 97 . XVIII do this better than you.4 I long to play something new by Some- have played to him – so vibrantly in his mind that he was able one Else again, but it is a true shame how rarely a decent piece to quote it in a later letter to Mendelssohn: comes along. Have pity on me, at least, and write a concerto . œ œ œ . 8 for the violin; you have shown what , , , “What has become of # # . ºœ œ œ. œ œ. ºœ œ œ œ &c. &c. ?” G # # œ and basset horns mean to you. So do something for us [ ] now, especially for me; you are the right man for this. It costs Another, much later inquiry by Ferdinand David, in which he you two weeks’ time and you reap eternal gratitude. But do it jokingly designated the concerto that had been promised for so quickly before my fingers become all stiff and the jumping bow many years now as antediluvian (thus before the Biblical Flood), gets podagra.”5 Mendelssohn’s reply makes it clear that he had repeats this quotation of the principal theme of the finale in a not worked on the piece anymore in the meantime, and he even slightly varied manner.9 It supports the view that Mendelssohn provides a reason for this: “It is very kind of you to want to note had begun his work starting from the final movement and that me down for a violin concerto; I would really love to write one he definitely had more trouble with the expression marks for the for you, and if I am able to enjoy a few tranquil days here, then opening movement such as “brilliant” and “The entire first Solo I shall write you such a piece. The task is not that simple, how- […] from the high e […].”10 It was not until 21 July 1840 that ever; you want a brilliant piece, but how do we proceed here? Mendels­sohn was finally able to communicate to Chorley: “I am The entire first Solo is to consist of the high e.”6 The mention now finishing the concerto […], of which you recollected the last of the high note “e” which was to become so characteristic for movement so perfectly.”11 This formulation, in turn, does not yet the main theme of the first movement, suggests that a roughly hint about an actual full draft of the concerto, since Mendels- formulated theme already existed. The difficulties concerning sohn usually elaborated his works almost entirely in his mind and a virtuoso execution designated as “brilliant” refer in multiple stored them before notating down the score on music paper.12 ways to the unfinished Sonata in F major MWV Q 26. This common practice can be observed here, too, for it grew still around the Violin Concerto. Four years were to elapse before The Composition Continues Mendelssohn reprised his work on it again. Previously, in May 1843, with a caustic pen and sharp humor, and written in a letter Thanks to his friend’s insistence, Mendelssohn began to work penned in the polite “Sie” form, David jestingly asked about the intensively on the Violin Concerto in the second half of 1839. long- awaited and almost abandoned piece: “[…] You will thus be The first evidence of his compositional activity is a reminiscence reaping the thanks of the entire civilized Violin=World [through found in a letter by the London music critic Henry Fothergill educational measures concerning a lazy violin student of the Chorley (1808–1872), who was sojourning in Leipzig from 1 to Conservatory], which has every intention of being obligated to 15 October 1839.7 Significantly, it does not refer to the opening eternal thanks through your long-cherished plan to compose a movement, but to the finale of the concerto. Chorley retained violin concerto, and thanks to which we shall no doubt be ob- the beginning of this movement – which Mendelssohn must ligated to eternal thanks eternally, whereupon I shall not fail to

4 The Violin Concerto, which was then still in its process of origin, also testifies to Mendelssohn’s predilection for seamless transitions between the indi- vidual movements of a work. In a letter to the historian , the composer mentions: “[…] This is now a hobbyhorse of mine, on which I ride about quite a bit, to the effect that the short pauses between the musical pieces (not the long ones) have to be eliminated.” His idea of form aimed at “letting the various sections flow continuously one after the other, like a mass of music.” Letter to Johann Gustav Droysen of 11 March 1842, location of the original unknown, quoted from: Ein tief gegründet Herz. Der Briefwechsel Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdys mit Johann Gustav Droysen, ed. by Carl Wehmer, Heidelberg, 1959, pp. 78–80, quotations on pp. 79–80. 5 Letter from Ferdinand David to Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy of 16 July 1839, GB-Ob, MS. M. Deneke Mendelssohn d. 35, Green Books IX-210, printed in: Eckardt [note 2], pp. 112–115, quotation on pp. 113–114. 6 Letter to Ferdinand David of 24 July 1839, D-LEsm, A/599/2007, printed in: Eckardt [note 2], pp. 115–120, quotation on p. 118. 7 The two had just recently become acquainted in September 1839 in Brunswick, as emerges from an undated letter to Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy from Henry Fothergill Chorley, GB-Ob, MS. M. Deneke Mendelssohn d. 46, Green Books XX-258. This letter is filed close to the correspondence dating from the time period of June/July 1844. 8 Letter from Henry Fothergill Chorley to Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy of 11 February 1840, GB-Ob, MS. M. Deneke Mendelssohn d. 37, Green Books XI-49. 9 “You could possibly have a Sonata for piano and violin in your feather, which would be in uno stilo moltissimo concertantissimo in D or E major and would not be performable without the Berlin-Anhaltiner Railway or even if it were the antediluvian violin concerto [music example, 3rd movement, head of theme, mm. 8–10] that demands my presence and 6 Fuder (cartloads) of high E’s.” Letter from Ferdinand David to Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy of 26 January 1844, GB-Ob, MS. M. Deneke Mendelssohn d. 45, Green Books XIX-58; printed with divergences and without music examples in: Eckardt [note 2], p. 205. 10 See note 6. 11 Letter to Henry Fothergill Chorley of 21 July 1840, location unknown, quoted from: Henry Fothergill Chorley: Autobiography, Memoir, and Letters. Compiled by Henry G. Hewlett, London, 1873, Vol. I, pp. 314–320, quotation on p. 317. 12 This manner of procedure can be confirmed with many of Mendelssohn’s works. A hidden allusion that this practice was also applied to the Violin Con- certo is delivered in a comment of Mendelssohn’s from a letter to David, a good four years after this temporary completion – as mentioned to Chorley. Mendelssohn excuses his long silence in his correspondence and towards his friend with the mention that he thought about him every day and “[…] thus merely the writing of the words is late, nothing else!” He cunningly compares this with compositions, whereby one can most certainly apply this to the Violin Concerto: “This is also found with the occasional musical piece that one really enjoys but that must ultimately come to light at the end […].” Letter to Ferdinand David of 2 September 1844, location unknown, printed in: Eckardt [note 2], pp. 219–221, quotation on pp. 219–220. XIX keep silent about the reasons why one should finally have this obtained the completed solo part, as he is too busy with other concerto – reasons that are too extensive for this letter […].”13 market-related tasks. Would you please be so kind as to send it David’s ceaseless hounding was finally rewarded: the autograph back to me as soon as possible so that the orchestral parts and score of the Violin Concerto bears as its closing date 16 Sep- the score can be copied out of the score for you.”18 tember 184414 and was brought to a provisional end during It is impossible to determine for sure what alterations were in- Mendelssohn’s stay in Bad Soden near Frankfurt am Main, with serted in the score, whether these were the light pencil correc- many emendations still recognizable today in the score. Owing tions of Mendelssohn’s in the solo part of the first movement to the use of a lighter-colored ink for the corrections and the or the few red-pencil (“Rötel”) entries. Information about this completion dates, one can assume that a certain amount of time could only have been obtained from the solo part, which was had elapsed between these corrections and the first full draft. already fully written out by then, even though it must now be Finally, during a brief stay in Leipzig, Mendelssohn presented considered as lost. Finally, on 5 November 1844, Mendels- his work to David on 28 or 29 September 1844 together with sohn informed Carl Klingemann in London that he had “fully “several new things”15 and, moreover, he entrusted David with completed a violin concerto begun a long time ago”19 and, at the task of delivering the finished manuscript to the Leipzig the same time, he passed along to David a request transmitted music copyist Amadeus Eduard Anton Henschke (1804–1854), through Heinrich Conrad Schleinitz (1802–1881). The request which then immediately took place. Just a few days later, David was to perform it with orchestra during the composer’s visit to obtained from the copyist the solo part, now written out, on the Leipzig at the end of the month, in order to be able to hear it basis of which he began to work on the piece for himself. And in its entirety for the first time.20 David promised to arrange a already a good week after the manuscript had passed from Men- run-through: “I would like to play you your concerto when you delssohn’s hands into his own, the violinist wrote ecstatically come to see us here; the score is ready for you, it is more difficult to the composer: “Your Violin Concerto is magnificent, 1,000 than I thought at first glance.”21 In the meantime the copyist times better than what we poor fiddlers can paste together.”16 Henschke received the autograph score and could now finish his The Michaelmas Fair ( Leipzig commercial fair held in transcription.22 The promise of a run-through was kept when October 1844) was approaching, and many other projects de- Mendelssohn came to Leipzig for four days on 30 November. manded Henschke’s attention. The copyist did not make much The rehearsal in the Gewandhaus with the presentation of the progress, however, since he was tied up with many other tasks, Violin Concerto took place on one of those days. as David reported;17 David himself was extremely busy as a After a one-day visit to the Dresden court on 4 December and sub-negotiator for Mendelssohn, who was then sojourning in his immediate and precipitous journey from Leipzig to his fam- Berlin. In the meantime, Mendelssohn continued his work on ily in Frankfurt am Main,23 Mendelssohn spent the following the concerto and asked to have the score sent back to him. Da- days with his wife and children in the home of the Souchay vid immediately tried to satisfy the composer’s wish: “Through family. From there he wrote ten days later to his sister Fanny Herr Döhler I am sending you the Violin Concerto which you, Hensel: “I have arranged and completed my Violin Concerto, as Dr. Härtel tells me, now need. Henschke, to whom I had as it is scheduled for printing by Härtels. David played it to me entrusted the score in order for him to copy it, has only recently at a rehearsal in Leipzig, and I hope that it will please you.”24

13 Letter from Ferdinand David to Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy of 6 May 1843, GB-Ob, MS. M. Deneke Mendelssohn d. 43, Green Books XVII-240. 14 Mendelssohn’s planned short stay is noted in a letter to Julie Schunck of 24 September 1844, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, 46/28-4, printed in: Ungedruckte Briefe Mendelssohn’s. Nach den Handschriften mitgetheilt von La Mara [letter no. 7], Scholarly supplement to the Leipziger Zeitung no. 33 (18 March 1890), p. 130. His actual presence on 29 September 1844 is confirmed by his letter of the same day addressed to Paul Mendelssohn-Bar- tholdy, in which he announced the continuation of his journey to Berlin for the following morning at six o’clock, letter of 29 September 1844 to Paul Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz (hereafter: D-B), Musikabteilung mit Mendelssohn-Archiv, MA Ep. 88. 15 Letter to Ferdinand David of 2 September 1844, D-LEsm, A/555/2007, printed in: Eckardt [note 2], pp. 219–221, quotation on p. 221. 16 Letter from Ferdinand David to Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy of 7 October 1844, GB-Ob, MS. M. Deneke Mendelssohn d. 46, Green Books XX-104. 17 Ibid. 18 Letter from Ferdinand David to Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy of 13 October 1844, GB-Ob, MS. M. Deneke Mendelssohn d. 46, Green Books XX-114. 19 Letter to Carl Klingemann of 5 November 1844, private collection, quoted from: Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdys Briefwechsel mit Legationsrat Karl Klinge- mann in London, ed. and introduced by Karl Klingemann [Jr.], Essen, 1909, pp. 299–301, quotation on p. 300. 20 See letter to Heinrich Conrad Schleinitz of 7 November 1844: “Greet David and ask him whether he can arrange it so that he can play my violin con- certo right away (in a rehearsal, for example).” D-B, Handschriftenabteilung, Nachl. Familie Mendelssohn, Pos. I/4, no. 124. 21 Letter from Ferdinand David to Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy of 12 November 1844, GB-Ob, MS. M. Deneke Mendelssohn d. 46, Green Books XX-168, partially printed in: Eckardt [note 2], pp. 221–223, quotation on p. 222. 22 Up until 12 November Henschke had written down not only the solo part, but also the score as well, which meant that the material was ready for the composer. This can be inferred from Ferdinand David’s letter to the composer [note 21]. On 5 December Eduard Henschke finally acknowledged receipt of the honorarium for the completed score as well as copies of the parts and duplicates of the Violin Concerto. Invoice from Eduard Henschke to Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy of 5 December 1844, GB-Ob, MS. M. Deneke Mendelssohn d. 46, Green Books XX-207. 23 While he was still in Leipzig, Mendelssohn received a letter from his wife Cécile, in which she reported to him about the alarming condition of their youngest child Felix, and urged him to leave at once. As to the verification of this no-longer-extant letter see the letter to Paul Mendelssohn-Bartholdy of 8 December 1844, who reports that the concerned father immediately purchased a seat in the express post in order to travel to Frankfurt, Music Division, The for the Performing Arts, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations,*MNY++ Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix, Family Letters, no. 45. 24 Letter to Fanny Hensel of 15 December 1844, D-B, Musikabteilung mit Mendelssohn-Archiv, Depos. Berlin 23. This means that only the time span of 30 November to 3 December 1844 is plausible for the aforementioned rehearsal. XX

Preparations for the World Premiere: The Influence of timonies to the collaboration between composer and interpreter Ferdinand David are of major and undeniable importance to the evaluation of Mendelssohn’s creative process. What has come down to us are In view of the substantial amount of time involved in the gen- letters dating from the time before the sending of the engraver’s esis of the Violin Concerto, one is amazed by the circumstance copy to Breitkopf & Härtel, as well as following the corrections that Ferdinand’s collaboration on vital matters concerning the of the first galley proofs; this work was completed and provided work did not begin until the early version was finished in copy. with final markings after the world premiere.26 Mendelssohn Thus David had nothing to do whatsoever with the contents initiated the correspondence with the words: “Today I have a of the version of 1844. At the aforementioned rehearsal in the request to make of you. I have just sent to Breitkopf & Härtel Gewandhaus, he played from the solo part that Henschke had the score of the Violin Concerto, and have made a considerable first written out. It seems that at this performance he was ac- amount of corrections every here and there in pencil, things companied by the entire orchestra since – and thanks to the that Henschke should also change in the parts. There are also duplicates of the parts made by Henschke – there was enough several alterations – and, I hope, improvements – in the solo usable performance material. As to whether the rehearsal was part as well. I would really love to hear your opinion before I played with or without interruptions, with the corrections pre- entrust it to the hands of the irrevocable public. If I were there, viously made by David or painstakingly faithful to Henschke’s you would wheedle your way out of this with a few afternoon copy – nothing conclusive can be said. The fact is that after visits; hence I must ask you to write very precisely about this to this rehearsal, Mendelssohn took the copyist’s score and not the me here.”27 autograph with him to Frankfurt, where he radically revised it. David’s comments about giving shape and form to the solo ca- Thus during the entire further course of the work history, up denza in the first movement appear to be particularly momen- until the first performance and publication, the autograph no tous; we can clearly see the differences between early and main longer played any role whatsoever. According to a letter posted versions of the concerto.28 A few results of the collaboration by Mendelssohn to the publishing house Breitkopf & Härtel, with David, and especially in view of the solo cadenza, can be the manuscript had passed into David’s private collection,25 pre- established in part on the basis of the multi-layered corrections sumably since the Leipzig rehearsal. Using the Henschke score, that Mendelssohn had carried out in the Henschke score. From it is possible to retrace which alterations undeniably stem from here, in turn, it is possible to establish that the score had once Mendelssohn himself, all the way up to the main version, and again been in his possession at a later date. what was added as a result of David’s suggestions. This is con- David’s influence, which pertains to matters of musical con- firmed nearly seamlessly through the surviving correspondence tents and can be inferred from the correspondence, concerns of those months between David and Mendelssohn. One ma- mainly performance practice and suggests optimizations of the jor question must remain unanswered: the degree of influence solo part as well as, in a later stage of the publication, the ad- that the violinist exerted on this revision at the Gewandhaus dition of bowings and fingerings.29 Even before the first perfor- rehearsal. Even if no written evidence whatsoever has survived, mance at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, which took place during it can be assumed that performance-technical problems and the last subscription concert of the season on 13 March 1845, corresponding suggestions of alterations had already been dis- David already owned a first set of proofs of his part from Breit­ cussed in Leipzig; Mendelssohn’s fundamental revision took kopf & Härtel, in which he introduced further alterations.30 place in Frankfurt, however, during the period ranging up to He promised Mendelssohn by letter: “As soon as I have played the posting of the score to Leipzig on 17 December 1844. This it, the complete orchestral parts will be returned to you along triggered an intensive exchange (documented in the correspon- with my solo part, in which I enter everything exactly as I play dence) of suggestions and counter-suggestions between David it. According to your disposition, you can then add something and Mendelssohn that lasted until publication. Even if this con- from this into the dedicated correction copy which will be en- cerns only relatively few discussion points – which, moreover, closed.”31 The annotated proof copy of the solo part, which is date from a rather late stage of the work’s origin – these rare tes- lost today, thus served as the soloist’s premiere material. As to

25 “When you send me proofs […], I beg you to enclose the score once again as I have no material for the concerto here, and my manuscript belongs to Herr Konzertmeister David.” Dictated letter to Breitkopf und Härtel of 25 January 1845, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt, Breitkopf & Härtel Archiv, printed in: Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Briefe an deutsche Verleger, ed. by Rudolf Elvers, Berlin, 1968, p. 150. The autograph of the first version of the Violin Concerto in D minor MWV O 3 of 1822 (dedicated to Eduard Ritz) was also gifted to the violinist by Mendelssohn’s widow in 1853. It is located today in London’s Royal Academy of Music, FMMS022. 26 A comparison of the contents of specific passages in the correspondence, music examples and apposite reference to the measures can be found as a doc- ument appendix at the end of this volume, p. 155. 27 Letter to Ferdinand David of 17 December 1844, D-LEsm, A/1/2004, printed in: Eckardt [note 2], pp. 224–226, quotation on pp. 224–225. 28 Concerning the differences between the early and late versions see Luigi Alberto Bianchi, Mendelssohn and His Violin Concerto: A Historical Rediscovery, in: The Violexchange 4 (1989), no. 3, pp. 14–18 as well as Tyrone Greive, Mendelssohn’s Concerto Revisions, in: The Instrumentalist 46 (1992), no. 7, pp. 65–67. 29 See the introduction to the main version, Series II, Volume 7 of this edition. 30 “I intend to play your Violin Concerto in the penultimate subscription concert; Härtels have sent me a provisional copy of the solo part […].” Letter from Ferdinand David to Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy of 15 February 1845, GB-Ob, MS. M. Deneke Mendelssohn d. 47, Green Books XXI-68. 31 Letter from Ferdinand David to Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy of 9 March 1845, GB-Ob, MS. M. Deneke Mendelssohn d. 47, Green Books XXI-118b. XXI the orchestra, only Henschke’s duplicates were available at first, Critical Report as well as the appendix with documents, and with the complete subsequent entries of all corrections; the produced the definitive introduction. Kapellmeister Niels W. Gade was most likely from Henschke’s score. The autograph score, in turn, in which David The two editors profited from a great deal of help and support of later confusingly noted “Played for the first time as manuscript / all kinds during their work on this volume. Thanks is owed in the in the last subscription concert on 13 March 1845,”32 no longer first instance to the libraries that allowed the scrutiny and evalu- played any role for the world premiere, for it represented a ver- ation of their stocks and made it possible to reproduce selected sion of the work that was already obsolete at that time. pages. These are the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Further developments which the Violin Concerto underwent Kulturbesitz, Musikabteilung mit Mendelssohn-Archiv, the prior to the premier performance and which can be traced in Biblioteka Jagiellońska, Kraków and the Bodleian Library, Uni- the correspondence between the publishing house, David and versity of Oxford. Also contributing to the successful outcome Mendelssohn, will be discussed in the principal volume as a were the following libraries and archives: Berlin (Staatsbiblio- component of the Violin Concerto’s publication history.33 thek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Handschriftenabtei- lung); Darmstadt (Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek); Leipzig *** (Stadtgeschichtliches Museum); London (Royal Academy of Music; The Schøyen Collection); New York (Music Division, The present volume has a lengthy genesis. In 2009 its broad The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Astor, Le- lines were conceived by Salome Reiser, who was responsible for nox and Tilden Foundations); Vienna (Österreichische Nation- about half of the editorial work during her years as staff member albibliothek). Special thanks for their valuable aid, suggestions of the Mendelssohn Gesamtausgabe. She completed the page and support go out to the editorial director Christian Martin format of the musical text as well as the transcription of the Schmidt and the staff of the Forschungsstelle, Ralf Wehner and sketches; she autopsied the sources in Kraków and Berlin, and Clemens Harasim. As to the comprehensive viewing of Salome definitively laid down the structure of the Critical Report with Reiser’s work material, we wish to extend our warmest thanks to the assignment of the source sigla. Her tragic death prevented Vincent Münscher, whose assistance is most appreciated. her from finishing the volume. On the basis of Salome Reiser’s preliminary work, the undersigned – who had been involved in this project since its inception – revised the material that Salome Reiser left behind and adapted it to the latest edito- Leipzig, 18 December 2015 Birgit Müller rial guidelines. She autopsied sources in Oxford, prepared the (Translation: Roger Clement)

32 See Critical Report, Source Description, Source F. 33 See the introduction to the main version, Series II, Volume 7 of this edition.