Facets of compositional reflection. The dedications to Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Christiane Wiesenfeldt
• Subject Area: Musicology
• Term: from 2016 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 287160633

This project will focus on the question whether one can detect a specific image of Mendelssohn by analyzing the works that were dedicated to him. Presuming, that a dedication always bears a certain message, the dedicated works will be analyzed with regard to specific musical reflections, holding an emblematic meaning within the musical material. The process of dedication does not only point to the author, but to the addressee. Thus, the music was composed as a denomination to the addressee - assumed the dedication was accepted - and reflected aspects of a musical style, employed or represented by Mendelssohn himself. The compositions can be understood as paratextual sources, in the sense of Gérard Genettes theory of dedication. This means, that the compositions often reflect private, symbolic or intellectual relations between the composer and the addressee, influencing strongly their reception in the public discourse. Moreover, this project will investigate the communicative force of the phenomenon of dedication completing the process of dedication. As a starting point, the historical and theoretical basics of the act of dedicating will be reconstructed. In the next step, the aspects of composition and aesthetic of reception will be examined, with regard to the dedications made to Mendelssohn. Furthermore, the study will examine the structure of the network of dedications surrounding Mendelssohn: Which composer dedicated which work to him? Why and when did he do so? A close look at the exact nature of the relations will allow interesting conclusions about for example the genre the composer chose, to honor Mendelssohn as a friend, teacher or benefactor. The core of the study will then be to analyze the detected dedications regarding their assumed reflection of Mendelssohns work. With these analytical results, the dedications will be examined within the context of their public meaning. The focus will lie on the contemporary media, especially the musical press, which had a considerable influence on the process of dedication. Thus, the aspect of dedication will not only be examined as a compositional phenomenon, but as a part of the reception itself. With this access, the dedications to Mendelssohn will be studied for the first time in a multiperspective way, shedding new light on a composer operating internationally during the 19th Century.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Wolfgang Sandberger; Dr. Ralf Wehner