Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy · Complete letters in 12 volumes
Based on the collection compiled by Rudolf Elvers , edited by Helmut Loos and Wilhelm Seidel

Scholarly advisory committee:
Wolfgang Dinglinger , Ulrich Leisinger , Laurenz Lütteken , Lothar Schmidt and Peter Wollny

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy as letter-writer: at the heart of 19th century European culture

As one of the most important letter-writers of the 19th century, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy maintained an extensive correspondence. With great style and eloquence he wrote letters to friends and family, letters from his travels and he also wrote to leading composers, musicians , artists as well as publishers. He corresponded with famous contemporaries such as Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner as well as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Carl Friedrich Zelter and Alexander von Humboldt. The correspondence begins in 1816 and ends in 1847 with the composer’s death. These letters are invaluable documents shedding light not only on the genesis, publication and revision of his musical works, but also on a period when relations between Christians and Jews still had a chance to become harmonious, as Moses Mendelssohn, the imminent scholar and grandfather of the composer had advocated.

This edition will therefore be of great interest far beyond the circles of musicologists and music specialists. It will appeal to those who are interested in the history of culture and ideas and to those who perceive Mendelssohn and his family as representatives of a unique, diverse cultural epoch. The complete correspondence shows that Mendelssohn not only went on to become one of the leading figures of German musical culture in the 1840s, but that he also maintained a network of musical contacts throughout Europe.

The Complete Edition
- German text only
- 12 volumes with approx. 750 pages in each volume, clothbound with dust jacket.
- Includes for the first time approx. 5000 letters known to be by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy as well as 500 letters previously unknown.
- Detailed explanations on historical context and commentary (Ger) in each volume.
- An ideal collector’s item for bibliophiles, providing an excellent means for studying the composer and the period in which he lived.
- Each volume with indices of individuals and institutions mentioned, compositions by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Fanny Hensel , place names and currencies.
- Complete index available as CD ROM in last volume.


“Amongst the many brilliant letter writers of his day, [Mendelssohn] is right in the fore, sparkling with liveliness and humour like Mozart, painting pictures like Runge or Caspar David Friedrich or in his element compiling travel sketches, clever and with great linguistic virtuosity just like any literary author.”
Peter Gülke