Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Felix

comprising the composer's arrangement of a passage of fifteen bars from the Chorus 'Ich danke Dir, Herr' (No.20), notated for violin in black ink on four staves, employing double-stopping in up to four parts, with the words "Denn der Herr hat es gesagt" at the head of the page and dynamic markings, inscribed by Mendelssohn with a five-line message to Kistner at the foot ("An Herrn Julius Kistner zu freundlicher Erinnerung, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Chor aus Paulus für eine Violine arrangirt, mithin nach dem neusten Oesterreichischen Gesetz nicht als Nachdruck zu betrachten").

1 page, c.12 x 14cm, 5-stave paper cut down from a larger sheet, Leipzig, 6 April 1847, vertical crease

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
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Mendelssohn has arranged the full orchestral and choral texture as a virtuosic passage for solo violin, incorporating the bass lines and harmonies as well as the leading vocal line.  The resulting chords require double-stopping in up to four parts, reminiscent of some of the violin writing by JS Bach in his Partitas and Sonatas for solo violin.  Mendelssohn jestingly points out to Kistner that, whilst it is an arrangement for one violin, it does not represent a new edition as provided for by the new Austrian copyright law.   The passage comes at the end of No.20, the Aria and Chorus 'Ich danke dir, Herr', from three bars after Letter C until Letter D (Breitkopf & Härtel, full score, 1877, pp.160-161).  Julius Kistner did not publish any editions of Paulus himself.