The life and works of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy are enjoying a considerable resurgence of interest among musicologists, musicians, and music-lovers alike. This volume of ten essays presents the most recent trends in Mendelssohn research, covering three broad catagories—reception history, historical and critical essays, and case studies of particular compositions. Based on primary sources from the nineteenth century, including little known autograph manuscripts and letters of the composer, the volume examines Mendelssohn's historical reception, his relationships with such contemporaries as Franz Liszt, A.B. Marx, Eduard Devrient, and Friedrich Wilhelm IV, and such works as the Variations sérieuses, Preludes and Fugues Op. 35, Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage Overture, and Reformation Symphony .
