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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.