In 2003, renowned Mendelssohn scholar R. Larry Todd wrote an important biography of the composer, Mendelssohn: A Life in Music (Oxford University Press). When the book was published, conductor Christopher Hogwood praised it highly: “Here not only the music but the pressures of life that created it, the constant travel, the correspondence with friends and family, the witty asides, and even a synoptic and sympathetic view of critical opinion on his main works from his own time until the present day are digested within this much-needed survey, and presented with accuracy, intelligence and insight.”
Todd is also the editor of the anthology Mendelssohn and His World (Princeton University Press, 1991). The book includes critical essays, letters from and to the composer, and excerpts from memoirs of his contemporaries.
Here is an interview with R. Larry Todd about Mendelssohn: A Life in Music that was featured on volume 71 of the MARS HILL AUDIO Journal.
RECOMMENDED READING
A review of a recording of some of
Mendelssohn’s sacred choral music
performed by the Kammerchor Stuttgart
Richard Wigmore offers a short biography
of Felix Mendelssohn at the website
of the BBC Music Magazine
Works by Felix Mendelssohn
in the All Saints Choir repertoire
Above all praise
How lovely are the messengers
Lift thine eyes
Lord, hear the voice of my complaint
There shall a star come out of Jacob
Veni Domine