Collection Items

  • Manuscript/Mixed Material
    [Grabau album] Scrapbook compiled by Fräulein Henriette Grabau, later Frau Bünau, containing (on p. [2] of cover) a watercolor of the Gewandhaus in Leipzig by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, with an excerpt from the opera Ali Baba by Luigi Cherubini in Mendelssohn's hand; holograph copies of Mendelssohn's Lieder ohne Worte, op. 85, no. 3, and op. 38, no. 2; autographs of Friedrich Rochlitz, Moritz Hauptmann, Carl Gottlieb Reissiger,...
    • Contributor: Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix - Grabau, Henriette - Library of Congress. Gertrude Clarke Whittall Foundation
    • Date: 1836

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  • Photo, Print, Drawing
    Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy im 12ten Lebensjahr
    Title on digital file: Mendelssohn at 12 years old
    Print shows portrait of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy at the age of 12 years old.
    • Contributor: Weger, August - Library of Congress. Gertrude Clarke Whittall Foundation
    • Date: 185?
  • Photo, Print, Drawing
    Fanny Hensel, geb. Mendelssohn Bartholdy
    Title on digital file: Hensel, Fanny Mendelssohn
    Print shows portrait of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, sister of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy.
    • Contributor: Mendel, Edward - Hensel, Wilhelm - Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix - Library of Congress. Gertrude Clarke Whittall Foundation
    • Date: 1847
  • Notated Music
    Auszug zu no. 6, Gottes Zeit : clarinetti & fagotti
    Gottes Zeit
    Holograph, in ink, consisting of parts by F. Mendelssohn for 2 clarinets and 2 bassoons to be used as additional instrumental parts in J.S. Bach's cantata, BWV 106, Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit. The holograph is accompanied by a printed score of the cantata (30 p. ; 33 cm.) edited by the Bach-Gesellschaft and published: Leipzig : Breitkopf & Härtel (pl. no.: B.W.106)....
    • Contributor: Bach, Johann Sebastian - Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix - Library of Congress. Gertrude Clarke Whittall Foundation
    • Date: 183?

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  • Manuscript/Mixed Material
    The alterations in the accompaniments of the Concerto in d. Holograph, in ink. Title from caption. At foot of p. 1: Mendelssohn's handwriting (alterations in his Concerto published by J.A. Novello)--Sabilla Novello. In the Gertrude Clarke Whittall Foundation Collection of the Library of Congress.
    • Contributor: Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix - Library of Congress. Gertrude Clarke Whittall Foundation
    • Date: 1837

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  • Book/Printed Material
    The Mendelssohn family : Felix Mendelssohn--Abraham Mendelssohn, his father--Leah Mendelssohn, his mother--Cecile, his wife--Fanny Hensel, his sister Scrapbook, containing printed matter about the family, holograph letters by them or to them, portraits, and holograph music ("Praeludium für ein Orgel, zum 3ten Oktober 1829," by Fanny Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, dated at end Sept. 28, 1829; and 5 measures by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, dated at Birmingham Sept. 25, 1840). The contents date from about 1829 to about 1938. The printed matter is in English (except for...
    • Contributor: Hensel, Fanny Mendelssohn - Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix - Library of Congress. Gertrude Clarke Whittall Foundation
    • Date: 1900

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  • Notated Music
    95ter Psalm
    Fünfundneunzigster Psalm | First words of fragment: Lasst uns mit Danken
    Holograph fragment from an early version of the 2nd movement, in ink, signed. The 54 measures of the ms. correspond to measures 57-106 of the final version. For chorus and orchestra. Title from p. [4]. In the Gertrude Clarke Whittall Foundation Collection of the Library of Congress.
    • Contributor: Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix - Library of Congress. Gertrude Clarke Whittall Foundation
    • Date: 1838
  • Notated Music
    Tutto è silenzio
    First words of aria: Dei clementi
    Holograph, in ink. Recitative and aria for voice and orchestra; all after p. [4] wanting. Title from first words of text. At top of p. [1]: Berlin am 23sten Febr. 1829. Für Mad. A. Milder componirt und derselben in Erfurcht zugeeignet von Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Accompanied by the complete text in ms. (not holograph). In the Gertrude Clarke Whittall Foundation Collection of the Library...
    • Contributor: Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix - Library of Congress. Gertrude Clarke Whittall Foundation
    • Date: 1829

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  • Notated Music
    Sinfonia Holograph, in ink. Arr. for piano 4 hands. Composer's letter concerning the work, written in English to Johann Baptist Cramer ([4] p. ; 19 cm.) mounted on flyleaf. Holograph part (in score format) for optional violin and violoncello bound in. In the Gertrude Clarke Whittall Foundation Collection of the Library of Congress.
    • Contributor: Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix - Library of Congress. Gertrude Clarke Whittall Foundation
    • Date: 1829

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  • Notated Music
    Ottetto Holograph, in ink. At end: Berlin, d. 15 Oct. 1825. Published: Leipzig : Breitkopf & Härtel, ca. 1845. In the Gertrude Clarke Whittall Foundation Collection of the Library of Congress.
    • Contributor: Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix - Library of Congress. Gertrude Clarke Whittall Foundation
    • Date: 1825

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  • Notated Music
    Der Blumenstrauss Holograph, in ink, signed on p. [2]. At end: London, May 1832. In the Gertrude Clarke Whittall Foundation Collection of the Library of Congress.
    • Contributor: Klingemann, Karl - Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix - Library of Congress. Gertrude Clarke Whittall Foundation
    • Date: 1832

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  • Manuscript/Mixed Material
    Letter to Eduard Devrient; 10 July, 1832 Correspondence. manuscript | 4p. | Manuscript (Form).
    • Contributor: Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix - Devrient, Eduard

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  • Book/Printed Material
    Mendelssohn, engraved portrait Print.
    • Contributor: Dircks, A. - Gebr, Kehr & Niessen, Cologne - Hildebrandt, Th
  • Article
    Felix Mendelssohn and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Article. Article. By late 1834, at the age of twenty-six, Mendelssohn had risen to the top of his profession, gaining the respect of his peers throughout Europe as the consummate professional musician: a leading conductor, brilliant performer and teacher, a composer of major status, and musico-historical scholar. In that year alone he had entertained and consequently declined several coveted positions including the directorship of...
  • Article
    Felix Mendelssohn and Jewish Identity Article. Article. Felix Mendelssohn was born into a family of means and privilege. His intellect and aptitude for music were apparent at an early age; by the age of fourteen he had already demonstrated an astonishing facility for musical composition, composing over one hundred works, from small scale keyboard works to large scale operas and symphonies. But the apparent effortlessness with which Mendelssohn met...
  • Article
    Felix Mendelssohn as Composer Article. Article. During his brief life, Mendelssohn produced approximately 750 musical works in nearly every genre -- from solo songs and works for solo piano, to choral and chamber works, and to large scale orchestral works, oratorio and even opera. As a virtuoso pianist and organist, it is not surprising that nearly one quarter of his works are written for these instruments; of his...
  • Article
    Felix Mendelssohn: Sacred Works Article. Article. Sacred music retained a position of major significance throughout Felix Mendelssohn's career as a composer, beginning with sacred choral songs performed at the Berlin Singakademie in 1821 and concluding with the Three Motets, op. 69, completed in the summer of 1847. Intended for both church and concert hall, his sacred works in particular have spawned divergent threads of discussion including the detection...
  • Article
    Felix Mendelssohn: Lieder ohne Worte Article. Article. Mendelssohn's most significant contribution to the solo piano literature rests in the approximately forty works -- about one quarter of the total number of works that he composed for that instrument -- that are designated as the Lieder ohne Worte, or "Songs without words." The composer is credited with codifying a genre in which the lyricism and intimate scale of art song...
  • Article
    Felix Mendelssohn: Octet in E-flat major, op. 20, for strings (1825) Article. Article. While the genre of the string quartet -- consisting of two violins, one viola and one 'cello -- developed slowly over the second half of the eighteenth century, it had, by the turn of the nineteenth century, achieved such a wide popularity as to be regarded as the vehicle par excellence of both chamber music and "modern" music of the era. The...
  • Article
    Felix Mendelssohn: Art Works Article. Article. The development of Mendelssohn's musical and compositional skills parallels that of another aspect of his creativity: his skills in drawing and painting, which, like music, became a means of expression on which he relied throughout his life.
  • Article
    Felix Mendelssohn: Reviving the Works of J.S. Bach Article. Article. Johann Sebastian Bach's stature as a composer of such extraordinary genius and widespread influence is so firmly established in Western culture that it is difficult to imagine that only a little over a century-and-a-half ago, his music and reputation languished in obscurity, virtually unknown to all but a few specialists. It was through Mendelssohn's recognition of Bach's genius and his efforts in...
  • Article
    Felix Mendelssohn as Correspondent Article. Article. Letter writing was a carefully cultivated art in the household of Abraham and Lea Mendelssohn, a tradition that was maintained throughout their lives as well as the lives of their children. Felix likely exceeded both his siblings and parents as the family's correspondent extraordinaire: recognized as one of the most prolific letter writers of the time, his corpus of communications bequeaths to...
  • Article
    Felix Mendelssohn Manuscripts and Resources for Research at the Library of Congress Article. Article. The largest part of the Library of Congress's resources for performing research related to Felix Mendelssohn is, predictably, housed in the collections of the Library's Music Division. While published scores of the composer's works, biographies and journal articles are held in the Division's general collections, the majority of primary source material such as holograph (autograph) manuscripts and correspondence, as well as iconography...
  • Collection
    Felix Mendelssohn at the Library of Congress Made available here are digital images of selected resources on this composer. This collection was created to mark the bicentennial of the birth of composer Felix Mendelssohn on February 3, 2009. The Library of Congress’s Music Division is one of the world’s major repositories of primary source material related to the composer.
    • Date: 1820

    Collection Items: View 28 Items