Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Six Sonatas For Organ Op.65: Organ: Instrumental

Mendelssohn-Felix Mendelssohn’s Opus 65 1-6 comprises the six Organ sonatas in F minor C minor A major Eb major D major and D minor which are essential repertoire forall organists. Some of the shorter movements are within the grasp of players of Grade 4 standard whilst many showcase movements are recital staples.

The three piano sonatas by Joachim Raff (1822?1882) representing his three main creative phases occupy a special position among his more than 100 piano pieces. They reflect a significant compositional aspiration whereas Raff otherwise frequently leans towards the salon-music genre in his piano music. Raff composed the early sonata op. 14 in 1844 after his first works were positively evaluated and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy had encouraged him to venture a career as a composer. The Fantasie-Sonate [Fantasy Sonata] in d minor op. 168 Raff wrote in 1871 at the height of his fame as one of Germany?s then most-played composers. Its dedication to CamilleSaint-Saëns shows his opposition to the rampant German disapproval of France and its music representatives in the wake of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870/71. The second version of the sonata op. 14 composed in the fall of 1881 had only the opus number in common with the earlier version. In this late work Raff had created an entirely new sonata.

Mendelssohn produced an early work for Organ in 1837 but it was a London music publishing firm who commissioned the first of his mature Organ works. The second half of the commissioned pieces are published in this volume. Mendelssohn himself saved all his manuscripts and they have survived in libraries in Berlin and Krakow providing the subtitle of this book.Eleven movements are included here all written in 1844 and 1845. What were originally commissioned as ‘Voluntaries’ were changed at the composer’s request to ‘Sonatas’. Whether one considers these movements as drafts and sketches or as distinct musical entities in their own right the works are not identical tothe final printed versions. For those who appreciate or study the Mendelssohn Organ oeuvre this volume is of immense interest.While the Organ never completely fell from grace as the instrument of church and religious music it is the editor’s belief that in the century dividing JS Bach from these works of Mendelssohn fashion and church practice had greatly diminished its importance and few works of real note were produced. Mendelssohn was introduced to the Organ early in his prodigious career and found a warm audience for his Organ performances in Engand to which he returned nine times over nearly twenty years.

Two volumes entitled Cello Meets Piano edited and published by Árpád Pejtsik were issued many years ago by the Könemann Music Budapest. The first edition was quickly sold out and no further editions followed. EMB has undertaken to issue a new edition entitled Cello & Piano with the content unchanged. The two volumes contain a selection from 200 years of music. Eight Baroque sonatas are included apart from the famous D minor one by Corelli there are some that are appearing in a modern edition for the first time in 300 years. In addition to cyclical works (Haydn: Sonatina Mozart: Divertimento Vivaldi: Concerto)and sets of variations (Beethoven Tartini) there are many shorter pieces as well not only the famous minuets by Boccherini Mozart and Beethoven but also works published for the first time here. Virtuoso pieces are represented by Goltermann's Etude-caprice and Jenkinson’s Dance of the sylphids the lighter kind include Joplin's Ragtime. Book II Contents: 1. Aldrovandini G. A. V.: Sonata2. Bella Domenico dalla: Sonata 3. Boni Pietro Giuseppe Gaetano: Sonata Op. 1 No. 5 4. Passionei Carlo: Sonata 5. Bach Johann Sebastian: Air BWV 1068/II 6. Tartini Giuseppe: L'arte del arco 7. Haydn Joseph: Sonatina Hob. XI:101 5 108 8. Albrechtsberger Johann Georg: Scherzando 9. Boccherini Luigi: Minuetto 10. Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus: Divertimento from KV 487 11. Beethoven Ludwig van: Andante con variazioni WoO 44b 12. Schubert Franz: Ave Maria Op. 52 No. 6 13. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Felix: Lied ohne Worte Op. 19 No. 4 14. Schumann Robert: Schlummerlied Op. 124 No. 16 15. Goltermann Georg: Étude-caprice Op. 54 No. 4 16. Tchaikovsky P. I.: Chanson triste Op. 40 No. 2 17. Dvorák Antonín: Appassionato Op. 75 No. 3 18. Massenet Jules: Air de Ballet (Scene pittoresque)