Felix Mendelssohn: A Life in Letters. Edited by Rudolf Elvers. translated from the German by Craig Tomlinson.

Selected letters by the nineteenth century German composer to his family, friends, and colleagues help document the developing concerns of his life

Mendelssohn was a prolific and detailed letter writer. Although library shelves are full of selections from his correspondence, this English translation of a recent German edition has several points to recommend it, among them the inclusion of correspondence devoted solely to family affairs that has hitherto been unavailable. The letters, which span Mendelssohn's entire life, are interspersed with brief narratives that give the reader some background. Throughout, we are shown the composer in all the diversity of his dealings and also given an idea of his lively personality. Ably translated and well indexed, this readable volume will be attractive to music enthusiasts as well as scholars. Robert W. Richart, Washington State Univ. Lib., Pullman
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.