Edition of the letters of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Helmut Loos
• Subject Area: Musicology
• Term: from 2012 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 225759808

The project has been elaborating a critical edition of the letters of composer Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847). 12 volumes are projected. Besides a philologically reliable print of the letters’ transcribed texts, the edition features a critical comment on the dimensions of philology, content and context, as well as indices on persons, corporations and works, a concordance of place names, and further hermeneutically important registers.The edition is published by Bärenreiter Publishers (Kassel). The first volume has appeared in 2008, the second followed in 2009, the third in 2010, the fourth in 2011. The fifth volume is ready for press. Huge parts of the sixth volume have been handed over to the publisher as a draft at the end of 2011.There has been a delay in production as a result of staff fluctuation, as has been repeatedly reported. The extent of work has increased due to deductions and discoveries of new sources. The volumes will now have 830 rather than 750 pages. As a consequence of the contributors’ great commitment, the work’s conclusion is now foreseeable and realistically scheduled. The edition’s extraordinary significance is beyond doubt with the contributors and all involved colleagues and has already been evalued affirmatively in reviews.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants