Klarinet Archive - Posting 000204.txt from 1997/07

From: Jacqueline Eastwood <eastwooj@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Dave Blumberg's material about Mendelssohn
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 1997 11:55:18 -0400

On Thu, 3 Jul 1997, Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu wrote:

<cut>

> I sometimes think that Felix was the greatest musical genius
> who ever lived, to some extent even more profound, for a short
> period, than Mozart. My goodness, the things he turned out
> at 15, 16, and 17 (which is how old he was when he wrote the
> overture to Midsummer Night's Dream) were so remarkable and
> profound as to shock one even to this day. The problem is
> that he peaked early and never grew beyond his late teen age
> years. Evidence of this can be found in the incidental music
> of Midsummer Night's Dream, which he did in his early 30s.
> Only his remarkable ability to go back to the age of 17 and
> use the powers he had then to mimic what he wrote at that age
> produced such a remarkable work. When he wrote as a 30 year
> old, he got stodgy oratorios, and the Reformation Symphony.
>
> In effect, he died at 18. Oh he lived and breated and ate,
> but his spark of genius faded fast.
>
> But his greatest contribution to music was the reestablishment
> of J.S. Bach to the pinnacle position he now holds.
>
> I have read a number of letters he wrote in English, and it
> was so very good and so very fluent that I cannot understand
> how he learned it with such facility.
>
>
>
> =======================================
> Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
> Rosanne Leeson, Los Altos, California
> leeson@-----.edu
> =======================================
>
Aha, now after all these wonderful contributions, I feel I have learned
something of value.

I did vaguely remember that Mendelssohn was largely responsible for the
"resurrection" of Baroque music in his era .... so perhaps the use of "Ein
Feste Burg" is because of his appreciation for Bach's cantata, and since
Bach was a German Lutheran, and the anniversary of the Protestant
Reformation was upon him, Mendelssohn incorporated the chorale tune
into t the symphony. But probably not due to any consumption-induced
religious fervor or near-death conversion. I thought that, not unlike
Chopin, Mendelssohn was of a delicate constitution to begin with.

I also remember that, for some obscure reason, my music history prof. (who
thought he was Monteverdi reincarnated, but that's another story) insisted
that "Elijah" was the greatest of Mendelssohn's output. I thought it was
rather boring, much preferring the incidental music to "A Midsummer
Night's Dream", or either of the two aforementioned symphonies, or the
orchestral overtures, even. Now I feel justified!

Jacqueline Eastwood
University of Arizona/Arizona Opera Orchestra
eastwooj@-----.edu