Felix Mendelssohn lost quartet (and other chamber pieces)

[Balapoel]

With the release of Mendelssohn's complete catalog, we can delve deeper into his unsung works.

http://www.saw-leipzig.de/forschung/projekte/leipziger-ausgabe-der-werke-von-felix-mendelssohn-bartholdy/thematisch-systematisches-werkverzeichnis

Some world premieres can be downloaded at:

http://themendelssohnproject.org/

I recommend these (they're all full of youthful vitality, with beautiful melodic treatment, and a little sturm und drang):

Piano Quartet in d minor (1821)
Piano Trio in c minor (1820, revised 1826)
Violin sonata in d minor (1827)

My question is: does anyone know of a score/recording or any other details available for the 1847 string quartet in E major? The full details are:
1 Allegro vivace in E (frag), R36
these are probably associated:
2 Scherzo in a minor, R35 (Op. 81/2)
3 Andante sostenuto in E, R34 (Op. 81/1)

[kolaboy]

Brilliant link, thank you.

Wish I could be of help regarding the Quartet, but I'm afraid the latest information I've garnered comes from the Eric Werner biography...

[jerfilm]

Old guy needs help.  I went to the Mendelssohn project site but could not find any downloads.   How?

Jerry

[Balapoel]

Old guy needs help.  I went to the Mendelssohn project site but could not find any downloads.   How?

Jerry

You can find the mp3 files under 'Media' on the menu bar.
Cheers,
Balapoel

[eschiss1]

Recordings of the two op.81 pieces have occurred quite a number of times - actually, I think I know of at least one recording, possibly many, that does combine them with two -earlier- works (not a contemporary 1847 fragment) as 4 pieces for string quartet. That rings more of a bell. Reconstructions with all 3 or more pieces all belonging to the end of Mendelssohn's life including the opus 81 pieces, I haven't heard of or heard recorded. Thanks for the heads-up!

[jerfilm]

Thanks for the link.  I missed these when I looked at that page....

Jerry

[Balapoel]

Recordings of the two op.81 pieces have occurred quite a number of times - actually, I think I know of at least one recording, possibly many, that does combine them with two -earlier- works (not a contemporary 1847 fragment) as 4 pieces for string quartet. That rings more of a bell. Reconstructions with all 3 or more pieces all belonging to the end of Mendelssohn's life including the opus 81 pieces, I haven't heard of or heard recorded. Thanks for the heads-up!

Oh yes, the Op. 81 movements are widely known, but as you say, the other two are not related in any way to the 1847 Quartet in E major:
Capriccio in e minor, Op. 81/3 (1843) R32
Fugue in Eb, Op. 81/4 (1827) R23

There is ripe potential for a number of unknown (or relatively unknown) pieces to be performed/recorded (and some have):

Assai tranquillo in b minor for cello and piano, Q25 (1835)
String duos, R19, R29 (1824, 1838)
17 Fugues for string quartet, R1-R17 (1821)
Viola Sonata in c minor, Q14 (1824)

for orchestra:
Recitativo in d minor for piano and strings, O1 (1820)
Piano Concerto in e minor (no. 3), O13 (1842) - this has been recorded recently, and sounds great, by the way
3 Kindersinfonie (P4, P6, P8) (1827, 1828, 1831)
Symphony in Bb (frag), N17 (1839)
Symphony in C (frag), N19 (1845)

As a great fan of Newbould's reconstructions of Schubert's Symphonies 7, 10, and other frags, I would like to hear the later Mendelssohn efforts.

[eschiss1]

If the viola sonata you mention is the fine sonata that used to be on a Bayer CD, I second that one. One of the earliest sonatas specifically for viola to be written (though not the earliest published- that would be by Ernest? Naumann, I think- well, it's hard to be sure! The Mendelssohn wasn't published for quite some time.) Then again, I second (third? fourth?... five hundredth?) all the ones in the list that I've heard, and with some less certainty those I haven't, too.
(What I saw Todd's book listed several others but they may have been from slightly later date?)