Letters of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy from 1833 to 1847

by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

CATALOGUE
OF
ALL THE MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS
OF
FELIX MENDELSSOHN BARTHOLDY.
I. THE PUBLISHED WORKS, IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.
II. THE UNPUBLISHED WORKS, CLASSIFIED UNDER DIFFERENT HEADS.
COLLECTED PRINCIPALLY FROM THE AUTHOR’S ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPTS,
AND ACCOMPANIED BY A PREFACE,
BY
J U L I U S R I E T Z.

PREFACE.

In the first section of this Catalogue a few compositions are omitted, because the autograph notes, by which Mendelssohn was in the habit of recording the date and place of composition of his pieces, are wanting; the precise date at which these works were composed cannot therefore be given. They are as follows:—

Op.	6.	Sonata for Pianoforte.
	7.	Seven characteristic pieces for Pianoforte.
	8.	Twelve Songs.
	9.	Twelve Songs (with the exception of No. 3).
	10.	Symphony No. 1.
	14.	Rondo Capriccioso for Pianoforte.

These may all be placed between 1824 and 1828; the symphony, probably the earliest of all, about 1824; it was not published, however, till much later, and was then marked as Opus 11, that number happening to be vacant. In marking his works with Opus figures, both at that time and especially later, Mendelssohn invariably referred to the date, not of their composition, but of their publication; years not unfrequently intervening between the two. This fact is strikingly exemplified in the “Walpurgis Nacht,” which, though composed in 1830, was not published till 1843, when indeed it was much over-elaborated. In his books of songs and other minor works, he was in the habit of selecting those which answered his purpose, out of a large number composed in different years. Thus, for example, the six songs in the first book of songs for men’s voices (op. 50), were composed between 1837 and 1840. Dates are also wanting for

Op.	15.	Fantasia for Pianoforte.
	19.	Six Songs, (with the exception of No. 6) undoubtedly written between 1830 and 1834.
	44.	String Quartett, No. 1.
	66.	Trio No. 2, for Pianoforte, Violin, and Violoncello.
	72.	Six Juvenile pieces.
	13.	Variations for Pianoforte.

All belonging to the last period, subsequent to 1840.

Besides these, the originals of many single songs, with and without words, are so dispersed, that with the most anxious desire to render the Catalogue complete, and notwithstanding all the efforts of the Editor, they have not yet been discovered. Still, even in its incomplete and imperfect condition, the Catalogue will be interesting to the friends and admirers of this immortal composer. It cannot fail also to be of great value to Mendelssohn’s future biographer, for the striking picture it furnishes of his development, of which the Thematic Catalogue of Breitkopf and Härtel can give no idea, since in its compilation it was not possible to observe the chronological succession of the works.