Alfred Mendelsohn
Alfred Mendelsohn
Genres: contemporary classical, composer, Romanian
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About Alfred Mendelsohn
(b Bucharest, 4/17 Feb 1910; d Bucharest, 9 May 1966). Romanian composer, teacher and conductor. He studied composition with F. Schmidt and Marx at the Vienna Music Academy (1927–31), where he was also a pupil of Wellesz and Lach in music history; he continued his composition studies under M. Jora at the Bucharest Conservatory (1931–2). After a period as a harmony teacher at the E. Massini Conservatory in Bucharest (1932–6), he directed that institution from 1936 until 1940; later he was assistant director of music and conductor at the Romanian Opera in Bucharest (1945–54). He held the posts of secretary (1946–9, 1954–63) and vice-chairman (1963–6) of the Romanian Composers’ Union, and taught counterpoint and composition at the Bucharest Conservatory (1949–66). Mendelsohn made his mark both as an exceptional teacher and as a prolific composer of wide culture, working in a great diversity of styles, forms and genres. He had a propensity for the monumental and grandiose, particularly in his cantatas and oratorios on patriotic historical subjects. His dramatic temperament is evident in the operas Meşterul Manole (‘Master Manole’) and Michelangelo, but even more so in the oratorios Horia and 1907 and in the Symphony no.3. The basis of his style evolved from Regerian late Romanticism to serialism in the manner of the Second Viennese School; his final mature manner was realized in several works of a nationalist spirit written during the period 1950–66. WORKS (selective list) Stage: Harab Alb (ballet), 1948; Meşterul Manole [Master Manole] (lyrical drama, 3, A. Jar, after folktale), 1949; Călin (ballet), 1956; Anton Pann (operetta, 3, I. Roman and R. Albala), 1961, Bucharest, 10 Dec 1963; Michelangelo (op, 3, Mendelsohn, after Kiriţescu), 1964, Timişoara, 29 Sept 1968; Spinoza (op, 6 scenes, P. Sterian), 1966 9 syms.: 1944–64 Other orch: 3 suites, 1937–43; Sym. Poem [no.1], 1949; Sym. Poem [no.2], 1953; Vn Conc. [no.1], 1953; Vn Conc. [no.2], 1957; Org Conc., 1960; Vn Conc. [no.3], 1963 Choral: Poemul păcii [Poem to Peace], 1952; Cantata Bucureştiului, 1953; Horia (orat), 1955; ‘1907’ (orat), 1957; Sub cerul de vară [Summer Sky] (sym.-cant.), 1959; Pentru marele octombrie [For the Great October] (orat), 1960 10 str qts; 3 vn sonatas; Vc Octet Principal publishers: ESPLA, Editura muzicală // BIBLIOGRAPHY G.W. Berger: Ghid pentru muzica instrumentală de cameră [Guide to instrumental chamber music] (Bucharest, 1965), 368ff D. Popovici: Muzica corală românescă (Bucharest, 1966) V. Cosma: Muzicieni români (Bucharest, 1970), 295ff
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