Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Felix

expressing in effusive terms his most cordial thanks for his efforts [regarding a Paris performance of his Antigone music], confiding the very great pleasure his correspondent's sense of rewarded effort has given him, particularly as he is not unaware that he has greatly overestimated the merits of the music, commenting that he hopes to earn his much too favourable opinion with better compositions, and wishing that all his works might find such devoted friends, who might take them under their wing and perform them in a worthy fashion; in the second part of the letter Mendelssohn thanks him for his letter reporting on the Paris performance (the first he has received containing a report of it, and which was given to him by Lady Smart during a troubled Philharmonic concert rehearsal), states that he is writing, on his suggestion, a few lines to Mosel, asking him to be assured of his gratitude, notes however with considerable vehemence that he will not countenance giving presents to the principal participants, since it runs counter to his principles, as established by him at the beginning of his musical career, to let his standing as a professional musician be influenced in any way by personal actions, adding that he cannot alter his conviction for what he holds and feels to be right, however exalted those might be who have introduced the custom [of rewarding performers]; by way of a coda, as it were, to these thoughts Mendelssohn asks Stern not to be angry with him, explaining that each man must establish for himself certain rules according to which he lives and acts, requests that he tells him about all his activities when he next writes, and looks forward to seeing him again in his native country

 ...Möchte ich durch bessere Arbeiten Ihre viel zu gute Meinung verdienen! Möchten alle meine Arbeiten so liebvolle Freunde finden um sich ihrer anzunehmen und sie zur würdigen Ausführung zu bringen!...In der Probe des Philharmonischen Concerts gab mir Lady Smart den Brief, und mitten in dem Proben-Trouble, zwischen vielen schönen u. manchen falschen Noten, las ich Ihre freundlichen Worte...Aber seien Sie mir nicht böse, wenn ich Ihren anderen Wink hinsichtlich der Geschenke an die ersten Mitwirkende nicht befolge. Es ist den Grundsätzen die ich mir zu Anfang meiner musikalischen Laufbahn gemacht habe, zuwider, auf irgend eine Weise meine persönliche Stellung mit meiner musikalischen zu vermischen...Und mag der Gebrauch durch noch so grosse Autoritäten eingeführt sein, ich kann einmal nicht aus mir selbst heraus...Sie wissen ja, daß sich jeder Mensch gewisse Regeln feststellen muß nach denen er lebt und handelt...



 4 pages, 8vo, later pencil annotation to upper left-hand corner of first page, 4 Hobart Place, Eaton Square, London, 27 May 1844, spine repaired, stitching holes, a few small stains and some damp-staining, slightly affecting the text in places, horizontal and vertical folds

The old repair to the spine has been made with tape, with some staining (from the glue?) on the last page. The stitching holes affect a few letters, including the “y” in the signature and 4 lines up from the end (“Sie”).
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One of the most important letters of Mendelssohn to appear at auction in recent years.

This highly characteristic and oft-cited letter dates from Mendelssohn's frenetically busy and very successful eighth visit to England (8 May to 10 July 1844), during which the composer directed five of that season's Philharmonic concerts. Indeed, on the very day of the letter Mendelssohn conducted at the famous Philharmonic concert that witnessed not only a performance of his Midsummer Night's Dream music but also the sensational concert debut of the twelve-year-old Joseph Joachim, performing Beethoven's Violin Concerto Op. 61.

In his letter Mendelssohn thanks the twenty-four-year-old violinist, singer and conductor Julius Stern (1820-1883) - who would later found, with others, in 1850, the celebrated Stern Conservatory in Berlin - for his role in a performance of his incidental music to Sophocles' Antigone at the Odéon theatre in Paris (Stern had already performed it several times in private circles, and would see that it was later performed over 70 times). But the letter is far from a conventional record of a great musician's gratitude to a fellow musician. Reacting passionately and in heartfelt fashion against a suggestion by Stern that he give presents to the principal participants in the Paris performance, Mendelssohn expatiates at some length on one of the founding tenets of his philosophy as a professional musician, namely that he must keep his public role separate from his personal feelings. One can only imagine the stunned reaction of the well-meaning and enthusiastic younger man as he read Mendelssohn's vehement yet kindly letter, which will have provided him not only with a profound insight in to the workings of the composer's mind, but also with a valuable lesson in standards of professional behaviour that will l surely have remained with him all his life.