Mendelssohn’s Works
Within a period of 28 years, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy created more than 750 compositions comprising all music genres, from singspiel to symphony.The basis of his creativity is extraordinarily multi-facetted. He was influenced by traditional musical genres as well as by artists from other areas than music, whether it was from poetry, fine arts, religion, philosophy, nature or human beings as such.
Initially, young Mendelssohn looked to more classical and baroque composition techniques and forms. From early on he was familiar with the work of Bach, as can be seen, for example, in his Characteristic pieces op 7. The influence of Mozart can be felt in almost all of the 12 symphonies for string orchestras, which he wrote aged 12 to 14, and in his early singspiels. He then found new impulses when he familiarized himself with Beethoven's late work, whose influence can be found in his String Quartets op 12 and op 13 of 1827 and 1829. However, the great achievement of the young composer was that, although the influence of his classical models could be heard, he managed to develop his own unique style within a period of four years. At the age of 16 he created his famous Octet op 20. One year later he composed another ingenious work with his overture to a Midsummer Night's Dream op 21. This work is not only the first self-contained overture, not simply introducing another main work but signaling the starting point of a new genre and the beginning of the great romantic instrumental music.
The fact that the very self-critical composer often revised and corrected his work meant that he only allowed a small part of his creations to be published. Some of his main symphonic works like the Reformation Symphony (op 107) and the Italian Symphonly (op 90) were only published after his death.
Mendelssohn had a lasting effect on music with his two oratorios Paulus op 36 and Elijah op 70, which displayed his appreciation of the works of Bach and Handel and gave an important impulse to the reviving of the oratorio based on the bible. As a highly-respected church musician he set to music a number of psalms, and with the Song of Praise op 52 he created a symphony-cantata after words from the Holy Book.
Mendelssohn's works for solo instruments are dominated by compositions for the piano, in which he manages to emphasize in a most virtuous way the many opportunities this instrument offers. In particular, the Rondo capriccioso op 14 and the Variations serieuses op 54 should be mentioned here. His Songs without Words have become almost synonymous with Mendelssohn's name. It was he who introduced this term, which shows his attempt to focus on the melodious component as the most significant element of these short but demanding piano pieces.
The volume and variety of Mendelssohn's creations is well documented in the recently published  
Catalogue of Musical Works (MWV).
