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Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy » String Quartet no. 4 in E minor » David, Ferdinand - Breitkopf und Härtel

This set of parts of the quartets opp. 12, 13, and 44 nos 1-3 in four bound volumes (Oxford, Bodleian Library, shelfmark: Tyson Mus. 1191/1 (1-5)) has been much more extensively annotated by Ferdinand David than the set in Berlin presented to him by the composer in 1839, which contains only sporadic fingering and bowing. His manuscript annotations in the Oxford set occur mostly in the first violin part with a few markings, mostly dynamics, in other parts, though some fingering and bowing in other hands occurs in the lower parts. David's annotations occurred in at least two phases: first a series of rather sporadic markings in pencil, then a much more comprehensive set of markings in blue crayon (with which the fly leaf of the volume has also been signed by David); these partly reinforce and partly replace the original markings. The later annotations give the appearance of preparation for an edition that was never published and probably date from David's later years. The original pencil markings were evidently copied by Ferdinand David's son Paul into his own now incomplete set of parts (lacking cello) of the quartets (Oxford, Bodleian Library, shelfmark: Tyson Mus. 1192/1 (1-5)). These parts were probably purchased by Alan Tyson from the same source as the above set For further discussion see my article Performance Markings in Mendelssohn's String Quartets.

Where performance markings have occasionally been added in other parts of Ferdinand David's copies (mostly not his), the relevant pages are included.

CB

Composer Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Work String Quartet no. 4 in E minor
Title Quartetto II (FD 2)
Publisher Breitkopf und Härtel
City Leipzig
Date 1839 ±2 years [Source: [estimate]]
Publication Number
Instrumentation String Quartet – 2 Violins · 1 Viola · 1 Cello
Partly Recomposed No

Parts

Part Plate No. Medium Annotations Musical Text(s)
vl 1 6023 Printed Manuscript
vla 6023 Printed Manuscript
vlc 6023 Printed Manuscript