Mendelssohn's organ music

Volume 7 of the Studies on organ music published by the Butz-Verlag, highlights various aspects of the organ works of one of the most frequently performed organ composers of the 19th century in 17 articles and 4 appendices. Mendelssohn's biographical relationship to the organ, the aesthetic context of his works as well as a brief outline of his registration practice and the general handling of the organ as an instrument at that time form the first part.

The subsequent, detailed analyses of his central organ works (Sonatas op. 65, Preludes and Fugues op. 37) provide valuable information on their formal and harmonic conception and sometimes surprising insights into the connections between the individual sonata movements, which on closer inspection appear less disparate than one might think at first glance. Unfortunately, there is a complete lack of practical consequences from the general observations or the analysis of the individual works, and much-discussed aspects of the musical text (dealing with Mendelssohn's - often inconsistent - bowing, questions of articulation and phrasing), which would be relevant for interpretation, are unfortunately not addressed here.

A third section - in addition to an overview of existing transcriptions of other works by Mendelssohn up to the present day - examines the impact of his example on the German organ sonata, but also on organ music in England and the Netherlands, where his organ music was particularly well received and had a formative effect. This should arouse the curiosity of some readers to take a closer look at the works mentioned. Particularly worth reading is the appendix with a detailed list of works and some highly differentiated and subtle reviews of Mendelssohn's organ music by Robert Schumann, August Gottfried Ritter and other critics in the 19th century.

Conclusion: A collection of texts which - without really giving specific interpretative advice - provides a wealth of information and can thus contribute to a better understanding of this music and its environment.

On the organ music of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Studies in Organ Music, Volume 7, edited by Birger Petersen and Michael Heinemann, 253 p., approx. € 19, Dr. J. Butz-Musikverlag, Cologne 2018, ISBN 978-3-928412-26-1