Mendelssohn Allegro, Choral(e) And Fugue In D For Organ

[Malcolm Kemp]

Could any member please tell me who publishes this piece (which, shamefully, I had never heard of, let alone heard, until a few days ago. It seems to have been recorded by John scott. I can't find it referred to in any of the currently available editions of the complete organ works of Mendelssohn.

 

Are volumes 1 and 5 of the Novello complete edition worth getting?

 

Thanks

 

Malcolm

[Fiffaro]

Could any member please tell me who publishes this piece (which, shamefully, I had never heard of, let alone heard, until a few days ago. It seems to have been recorded by John scott. I can't find it referred to in any of the currently available editions of the complete organ works of Mendelssohn.

 

Are volumes 1 and 5 of the Novello complete edition worth getting?

 

Thanks

 

Malcolm

 

The Breitkopf edition calls this simply "Allegro". It starts on page 90 of the first volume of their 'New Edition of the Complete Organ Works' BA8196 (1993). I am not aware of any publication of this work much before then. I understand that as it was not published whilst Mendelssohn was alive, it never received a title, hence the variation in the title. It is also published by Breitkopf, on page 59 of their second volume.

 

This work has also been recorded by Ulrid Span-Hanssen on the Classico label (CLASSCD 193-95)

 

Definitely worth learning!

 

I have just about every other edition of Mendelssohn except the modern Novello edition, so I can't help there, I'm afraid.

 

Given how warmly Mendelssohn's music is received by the public, and how chamber players in particular regularly schedule his music, I fail to understand how so many organists still seem reluctant to program his organ music. There is still much research to be done on the subject of Mendelssohn and his organ music and its performance practice.

[Malcolm Kemp]

Thanks, Fiffaro. Actually, late last night I found it in volume 2 of the Novello complete works (part one of the Berlin-Krokow manuscripts) but I had missed it as, like your copy, it isn't given a title but merely has the opening direction "Allegro". However, it is definitely the piece I heard in Salisbury last week and I ordered the CD of John Scott playing it last evening also.

 

Volume 2 of Jon Laukvik's "Historial Performance Practice in Organ Playing" is currently being translated into English (as was volume 1) by Michael and Bridgitte Harris but Carus do not yet have an issue date. Hopefully this will shed some more scholarly light on the subject. On another topic which I initiated some time ago there was discussion about performance practice in German music of this period and the current woeful lack of literature on the subject. Comments made by board members on that topic were most helpful and interesting.

 

Members of this Board who are not members of the RCO may be unaware that on Saturday 21st November at St Giles Cripplegate the London Organ Forum (sponsored by the RCO) is having a one day seminar "Mendelssohn: playing with history" with talks by Katherine Pardee,, Vanessa Latarche and William Whitehead. Until January this year I was studying with William Whitehead and I know he has taken a lot of interest in, and done a lot of study of, this topic, especially articulation in playing Mendelssohn organ music.

 

Malcolm

[martin_greenwood]

I'm in the middle of learning this piece at the moment from the Novello Vol.2 edition. So far I've had one lesson on the Allegro and am a week or so away from having prepared the fugue ready for having it taken apart at my next lesson. This might be down to my inexperience, but it's taken me an inordinate amount of time (a few hours) sorting out the fugue fingering in order i) to bring out the various entries, and ii) just to cover all the notes and suspensions. Is this to be expected, or is it my inexperience in preparing fugues?

 

Sq

[Fiffaro]

I'm in the middle of learning this piece at the moment from the Novello Vol.2 edition. So far I've had one lesson on the Allegro and am a week or so away from having prepared the fugue ready for having it taken apart at my next lesson. This might be down to my inexperience, but it's taken me an inordinate amount of time (a few hours) sorting out the fugue fingering in order i) to bring out the various entries, and ii) just to cover all the notes and suspensions. Is this to be expected, or is it my inexperience in preparing fugues?

 

Sq

 

Hi Squinius,

 

No one else has answered, so I'll throw in my thoughts. This work is on my list of 'must learns', but I haven't started yet, so I can only say in general, that fingering Mendelssohn can be a slow process for me, too. It is worth the effort and time, though, as once under the fingers, and attention has been paid to detail, the hard work is done, and you are rewarded with very satisfying playing experiences. The time, once the fingering and initial learning is done, to ready to perform generally is relatively short.

 

Stick with the hard work at the beginning, then, and all else should follow more easily.

 

Enjoy,

 

Pfiff.

[martin_greenwood]

The time, once the fingering and initial learning is done, to ready to perform generally is relatively short.

Thanks for your thoughts Pfiff. In the last week the fugue seems to have "clicked" for me me, so I think you're probably right regarding the upfront pain.

 

Sq.