For the first time this celebrated concerto will now appear in a source-critical edition. Ullrich Scheideler depicts how the work evolved, describes its sources, and comments on the musical text. The well-known violinist Igor Ozim has marked up Mendelssohn’s approved violin part, adding fingering and bowing marks as an aid to today’s performers. He has also supplied a separate commentary showing that Mendelssohn’s autograph already contains useful suggestions for shaping the solo part. The piano reduction – a revised version of the one that accompanied the first edition – lies well under the fingers while remaining as faithful as possible to the original text.
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Preface
The history of the e-minor Violin Concerto, op. 64, by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809–1847), 7), begins in the year 1838. On 30 July of that year the composer announced to his friend, the violinist Ferdinand David (1810– 1873), that he would “probably also like to turn out a violin concerto for you to play next winter; I’ve got one in e minor stuck in my brain, and … more
Critical Commentary
About the composer

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
A German composer, conductor, pianist, and organist who already numbered among the most important composers in Europe during his lifetime. While still young he found a unique tonal language. Reflected in his oeuvre, which spans all genres, are the contradictory tendencies of the age – Classicism and Romanticism. His endeavors over the course his life to perform the works of Johann Sebastian Bach led to a “rediscovery” of that composer which continues unabated. His intensive engagement with Bach and his counterpoint influenced his own compositional technique.
1809 | Born into a wealthy banker’s family in Hamburg on February 3. Escape to Berlin with his parents in 1811. First musical instruction from his mother. |
1819 | He becomes a pupil of Carl Friedrich Zelter. |
1820 | Joins the Sing-Akademie in Berlin. |
1821–23 | Twelve sinfonias for strings. |
1825 | String Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20. |
1826 | Overture to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Op. 21 |
1827 | Begins studies at the University of Berlin. |
1829 | Revival of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in Berlin on March 11 and 21. Travels to England and Scotland. |
1829–30 | “Reformation” Symphony in D minor, [Op. 107], with inclusion of the choral “Ein feste Burg“ (A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.) |
1830–32 | Extended travels, including to Italy and France. Piano Concerto in G minor, Op. 25; Overture in B minor, Op. 26, “The Hebrides, or Fingal’s Cave” (1829–30). |
1833 | Music director in Düsseldorf. “Italian” Symphony in A major, Op. 90 (1830–33). |
1835 | Director of the Gewandhaus concerts in Leipzig. |
1836 | Premiere in Düsseldorf of his oratorio “St. Paul: Oratorio on Words of the Holy Bible,” Op. 36. |
1838-44 | Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64. |
1840 | Composition of “Hymn of Praise, a Symphony-Cantata on Words of the Holy Bible,” Op. 52. |
1841 | Berlin, in the service of the Prussian king. “Variations sérieuses” in D minor, Op. 54, for piano. |
1842 | Completion of Symphony No. 3 (“Scottish”) in A minor, Op. 56, with a songlike opening. |
1843 | Incidental music to Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Op. 61. Director of the newly founded Leipzig Conservatory. |
1846 | Premiere of his oratorio “Elijah,” Op. 70, in Birmingham. |
1847 | String Quartet in F minor, [Op. 80]. Death in Leipzig on November 4. |