Mendelssohn, Arnold (Ludwig)
Mendelssohn, Arnold (Ludwig)
Mendelssohn, Arnold (Ludwig), distinguished German organist, pedagogue, and composer, son of a 2nd cousin of (Jacob Ludwig) Felix Mendelssohn (-Bartholdy); b. Ratibor, Dec. 26, 1855; d. Darmstadt, Feb. 19, 1933. He studied law at the Univ. of Tübingen (1877), then took courses with Löschhorn (piano), Haupt (organ), and Grell, Kiel, and Taubert (composition) at Berlin’s Institut für Kirchenmusik (1877–80). He was organist and music director at the Univ. of Bonn (1880–82), then music director in Bielefeld (1882–85); taught composition at the Cologne Cons. (1885–90). He was Hessian master of church music and prof, at the Darmstadt Cons. (1891–1912), and thereafter a prof, at Frankfurt am Main’s Hoch Cons., where his pupils included Hindemith. He championed the music of Schütz and Bach. In his own sacred works, he helped to revitalize Lutheran church music. He wrote a book on aesthetics, Gott, Welt und Kunst (ed. by W. Ewald; Wiesbaden, 1949).
Works
dramatic: opera:Elsi, die seltsame Magd (Cologne, 1896); Der Bärenhäuter (Berlin, Feb. 9, 1900); Der Minneburg (Mannheim, 1909). incidental music to:Goethe’s Paria (1906) and Pandora (1908). orch.: 3 syms.; Violin Concerto (1922). chamber: 3 string quartets; Cello Sonata; 2 piano sonatas. vocal: Sacred choral works, including Abendkantate (1881) and 2 other cantatas (both 1912); Deutsche Messe (1923); Geistliche Chormusik (1926); songs.
Bibliography
W. Nagel, A. M. (Leipzig, 1906); A. Werner-Jensen, A. M. als Liederkomponist (Winterthur, 1976); J. Böhme, A. M. und seine Klavier- und Kammermusik (Frankfurt am Main, 1987).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire