Mendelssohn Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E minor, Op. 64 Breitkopf piano reduction

Mendelssohn Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E minor, Op. 64 Breitkopf piano reduction

With his Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 MWV O 14, his last solo concerto, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy created a standard work of violin literature, firmly established in the concert repertoire today.

When the composer signaled in the summer of 1838 that he had "a Violin Concerto […] in E minor […] in mind," not only his friend, the Gewandhaus concertmaster Ferdinand David, for whom it was intended, was euphoric at the news. The "entire civilized violin world" awaited this concerto – and yet it took another seven years until the long-awaited work finally appeared in print in June 1845, published by Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, and simultaneously in London and Milan.

The concerto is particularly striking for its innovative treatment of the solo part, not only because of its striking entry immediately at the beginning of the first movement without a preceding orchestral tutti, but also because of the nature of its musical dialogue with the orchestra. The premiere on March 13, 1845, at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, with Ferdinand David as soloist and conducted by Nils Wilhelm Gade, served—as was often the case with Mendelssohn—as a kind of proofreading. Following extensive revisions by the composer, in which David also participated, the first printed edition of the work appeared almost nine months later. With this edition, a valid and, according to the composer's judgment, final version of the revision was reached, which this Urtext edition presents as the principal version of the work.

The piano reduction, which matches the material, contains both an unmarked part and a part in the tried and tested arrangement by Igor Oistrakh.

Also available:

Vinyl: Mendelssohn / Bruch Violin Concertos - Itzhak Perlman, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink Vinyl 12 inch Album

CD: Nathan Milstein Mendelssohn/Tchaikovsky/Bruch Violin Concertos Naxos CD

Sheet Music:

Mendelssohn Violin Concerto: Barenreiter, Henle, Peters, Schirmer, Simrock

Bruch Violin Concerto: Henle,  Peters or ed. Menuhin

Three Romantic Violin Concertos (Bruch, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky) Schirmer

Full scores:

Dover Great Romantic Violin Concertos (Beethoven, Mendelssohn & Tchaikovsky Violin Concertos)
Breitkopf

Study scores:

Barenreiter, Breitkopf (PB5712), Eulenberg