MENDELSSOHN, Felix 1809-1847

[Op. 74]. Athalia von Racine [Piano solo]

... Op. 74. No. 2 der nachgelassenen Werke. Klavierauszug ohne Worte ... Pr. 2 Thlr. 10 Ngr.

Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel [PN 7884], [ca. 1852].

Folio. Original publisher's yellow wrappers. 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 3-51, [i] (blank) pp. Engraved. Overture with plate number 7899, from the piano-vocal score. With publisher's catalog "Publications Nouvelles pour le Pianoforte" to verso of lower wrapper.

Wrappers somewhat worn, soiled, and split. Slightly worn and browned; occasional foxing.

First Edition. Wehner MWV M 16, p. 213. Not in Krause, Ward Jones, or Hoboken. Scarce (1 copy only located in the U.S., at the Carnegie Library, Pittsburgh)

Mendelssohn composed his incidental music for a production of Jean Racine's Athalie (1691) commissioned by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia. It was staged for the court at the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin on 1 December 1845.

"Though little-known today, the music for Athalie merits performance. Especially striking are Mendelssohn's paraphrases of chorales, including Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh’ darein and, in a scene in which the high priest Joad describes a vision of the New Jerusalem, Vom Himmel hoch.

"One of the most gifted and versatile prodigies, Mendelssohn stood at the forefront of German music during the 1830s and 40s, as conductor, pianist, organist and, above all, composer. His musical style, fully developed before he was 20, drew upon a variety of influences, including the complex chromatic counterpoint of Bach, the formal clarity and gracefulness of Mozart and the dramatic power of Beethoven and Weber.

Mendelssohn’s emergence into the first rank of 19th-century German composers coincided with efforts by music historiographers to develop the concept of a Classic–Romantic dialectic in 18th and 19th-century music. To a large degree, his music reflects a fundamental tension between Classicism and Romanticism in the generation of German composers after Beethoven." R. Larry Todd in Grove Music Online.

Item #36207

Price: $220.00  other currencies