Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Edition Peters’ Masterpieces for Piano series launched last year with three initial titles devoted to the great keyboard works of Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert, expertly compiled by Roland Erben and given fresh modern engravings based on the publisher’s esteemed legacy editions.
Each of the beautifully presented bumper books in the series so far offers a significant selection of core repertoire, suitable for (predominantly) early advanced players. And they proved to be one of the music publishing highlights of the last year.
Now Erben is back, with a volume of music by Clara Schumann coming soon, but firstly a new collection of Felix Mendelssohn’s most popular works. How many of them have you played?
Bearing in mind Mendelssohn’s importance and popularity, it may come as a surprise that in the last ten years of reviewing music on Pianodao, this is the first time I have been sent a new publication of his music for consideration.
Happily, this might be the only one you will ever need. Let’s find out…
Discovering Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847) was born into a prosperous Jewish family in Hamburg, the son of a banker and philanthropist, grandson of the influential philosopher and theologian Moses Mendelssohn, and the second of four children.
In common with his older sister Fanny, the young Felix showed exceptional musical ability from an early age. Rather than capitalise on this, their parents promoted a broader general education, in which music was encouraged but not regarded as an appropriate career that would lead to financial independence, social standing and stability.
Nevertheless, Felix was a published composer by the age of 13. His famous String Octet in E flat appeared when he was 16, and was followed a year later by his Overture for a Midsummer Night’s Dream. With a reputation already blazing across Europe, and recognising his single-minded dedication, Felix eventually received his father’s full and active support.
Over the next two decades, his astonishing career included tours across Europe (notably to the UK, where he was a favourite of Queen Victoria). He founded the Leipzig Conservatoire of Music, was a hugely successful conductor, and famously brought the music of J.S.Bach back into the standard perf repertoire.
As a composer, Mendelssohn achieved immortality as one of the key pioneers of the early Romantic age, his best known compositions including the Italian and Scottish symphonies, the Violin Concerto, Hebrides overture, and the oratorios St. Paul and Elijah.
The Piano Works
Felix Mendelssohn was born within a two-year period that also included the births of Chopin, Schumann, and Liszt, all pioneering piano composers. While Mendelssohn’s works for the instrument formed but one part of his larger output, there is a strong case for considering his contribution to the emerging piano repertoire as equal to that of his contemporaries.
Mendelssohn’s piano writing is supremely idiomatic, with brilliant figurations, and textures that lie comfortably under the hands. Perhaps best known for popularising an understanding that the piano can “sing”, his evergreen Songs Without Words (a miniature form he invented) were played in drawing rooms and salons across the world, and gave significant traction to the assimilation and teaching of a cantabile touch..
Alongside these, his Rondo capriccioso Op.14, Preludes and Fugues Op.35, and the Variations sérieuses Op.54 offer more intellectually weighty and virtuoso concert music, as do his two Piano Concertos, and the lesser-known Piano Sonatas.
Mendelssohn balanced the clear phrase structure, elegance, and formal discipline of the Classical Era with the lyrical melody, expressive harmony and inner emotion of the emerging Romantic style.
It is no wonder that his masterpieces have informed piano education and that, for several generations, they were regarded as an indispensable component of the domestic and pedagogy repertoire. The new volume from Edition Peters offers a timely reminder of this music’s central importance to the story of piano playing, and includes the following:
- Children’s Piece in G major, Op. 72 No. 3
- Children’s Piece in G major, Op. 72 No. 1
- Children’s Piece in E flat major, Op. 72 No. 2
- Children’s Piece in D major, Op. 72 No. 4
- Andante cantabile in B flat major, MWV U 93
- Venetian Gondola Song in G minor, Op. 19[b] No. 6
- Song Without Words in A major, Op. 19[b] No. 4
- Longing from Seven Characteristic Pieces, Op. 7 No. 6
- Song Without Words in A minor, Op. 19[b] No. 2
- Song Without Words in E major, Op. 30 No. 3
- Song Without Words in E major, Op. 19[b] No. 1
- Song Without Words in B minor, Op. 67 No. 5
- Song Without Words in E flat major, Op. 67 No. 1
- Song Without Words in A major (Spring Song), Op. 62 No. 6
- Song Without Words in C major, Op. 102 No. 6
- Song Without Words in F major, Op. 53 No. 4
- Song Without Words in A flat major (Duetto), Op. 38 No. 6
- Venetian Gondola Song in A minor, Op. 62 No. 5
- Song Without Words in A major, Op. 38 No. 4
- Song Without Words in E minor (Funeral March), Op. 62 No. 3
- Venetian Gondola Song in A major, MWV U 136
- Song Without Words in E flat major, Op. 53 No. 2
- Song Without Words in G major, Op. 62 No. 4
- Song Without Words in A minor, Op. 85 No. 2
- Song Without Words in E major, Op. 38 No. 3
- Prelude and Fugue in A flat major, Op. 35 No. 4[a]
- Fantasia on ‘The Last Rose of Summer’, Op. 15
- Album Leaf in E minor (Song Without Words), Op. 117
- Three Fantasias or Capriccios, Op. 16
- Rondo capriccioso, Op. 14
- Variations, Op. 83 No. 11
- Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op.105
The Songs Without Words, originally published in several sets, offer such a varied treasury of enriching piano music for players at around UK Grade 5-8 level that it is fitting to see so many of our favourites included here.
The Rondo capriccioso is a piece I have taught several times to advancing players and is especially welcome, while the Fantasia on ‘The Last Rose of Summer’ is a delight no pianist should miss.
Meanwhile, the inclusion of a choice Prelude and Fugue and the Sonata No.2 opens a window to the range of Mendelssohn’s music and the scope of his achievement.
The editing and publication
As with the previous publications in this series, the book has a soft matte cover sporting a representative artwork from the period. Going one better, that artwork is in fact by Mendelssohn himself: his View of Florence, painted during one of his extended European tours.
Within, the music is printed on cream paper, preceded only by a contents page. Given the educational appeal and general brilliance of this series, I think it’s a pity that Erben doesn’t provide a short overview of the composer’s life, times, and significance.
The scores themselves are once again freshly engraved, the music settings provided by John Rogers. These are based on the aged but esteemed editions of the nineteenth century pianist and educator Theodor Kullak (1818-1882), drawn from Edition Peters’ Mendelssohn Complete Piano Works volumes.
Those wanting the academic insight offered by a clean urtext edition should look to the Leipziger Ausgabe der Werke von Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, but Kullak’s authoritative editions are more than fit for purpose, and could be likened to Paderewski’s Chopin editions, Clara Schumann’s editions of her husband’s work, or Mandyczewski’s Brahms.
Happily, these well-established texts also include consistently helpful fingering across all the pieces, a boon for those wanting to explore this music.
Closing thoughts
I began this review with a suggestion that Mendelssohn Masterpieces for Piano might be the only book of this composer’s music that most pianists will need to purchase. So is it?
The most obvious omission is the Variations sérieuses Op.54, but those preparing a performance of this piece would perhaps in any case prefer the single piece edition from Henle/etc.
Meanwhile, it is to the credit of the high quality and consistency of the many Songs Without Words that there are ultimately several whose absence here might be felt by those seeking out a specific gem. Short of purchasing the full set (which I have, and can recommend) this collection offers a seriously good and nicely varied selection.
For those coming fresh to the musical genius of Mendelssohn (aside from the need to seek out a biography and context elsewhere), this volume certainly provides a superb and representative selection of stellar music. Even dipping in, players will quickly grasp the importance and range of his craft, and begin to tackle the techniques needed for mastery of his music.
With 144 pages almost entirely filled with genuinely seminal, breathtaking piano music, Mendelssohn Masterpieces for Piano is another triumph in this beguilingly brilliant series. With an initial asking price of just £19.99, it could easily be your best value purchase of the year.
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