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12 MENDELSSOHN

In the mid-1960s East German publishers, and notably the Deutsche Verlag

für Musik, at long last produced a general catalogue of Mendelssohn’s

works. Spurred on by their example, other German publishers made

their contribution. With reunification the ulterior motives on either side

diminished. Indeed, with Germany reunited, Mendelssohn was no longer

claimed, rather simplistically, as the ‘Leipzig composer’ (i.e. from the former

GDR). And musicians such as Kurt Masur were able at last to get on with the

work of giving the composer a truer image.

Even today Mendelssohn’s chamber music - and his compositions in general - are

still underestimated. We shall not go into detail about the disastrous effects of

Richard Wagner’s out and out condemnation of his works for reasons that had

nothing to do with ‘noble’ musical concerns…Or the fact thatWagner’s judgement

was ratified under the Third Reich, when Germany went so far as to remove

Mendelssohn’s name from the dictionaries of the time…

But it must also be pointed out that Mendelssohnwas not the best of promoters of

his own work. In his personal classification of 72 compositions that he considered

worthy of being handed down to posterity, he set aside a certain number of scores

that prove to be quite delightful to us today.