Publisher's Synopsis
An analytical study of the early works of Felix Mendelssohn. Covering works from 1825 to the mid-1830s, it re-examines a number of crucial issues; particularly, it questions the notion that Mendelssohn was primarily a lyric miniaturist incapable of handling large-scale instrumental forms. Rather, it proposes, the elegance of Mendelssohn's method has almost completely obscured the fact that it is a method at all. In scholarly detail, the text reveals how Mendelssohn's extensive and carefully worked out complex of strategies reflects a successful attempt to create a specifically romantic sonata style.
