Ben Crick,
 
I am amazed at your ideas about Mendelssohn.  I play the second sonata from
a photocopy of the first edition given to me by Harold Gleason.
Mendelssohn indicates keyboards ("Clav. I", e.g.) and dynamics, but no
registrations.
 
Regarding the first sonata:
 
"In the 3rd movement Mendelssohn calls for the Vox Humana or Corno di
Bassetto"?  Indeed he does not!  You or the editor of the edition you use
call for them.
 
As for calling the second movement "a delicious bit of romantic
saccharine", I am speechless (or nearly so).  Mendelssohn was a Classicist.
 Just listen to his music, read your music history, and analyze his scores.
 This is not to say that he should be played on Baroque organs with no
swell boxes, just that he was incapable of writing "a delicious bit of
romantic saccharine".
 
To my mind, the slow movements of the organ sonatas are like the Songs
without Words for piano.  Are the Songs without Words delicious bits of
romantic saccharine?  I don't think so.  Elegant, yes.  Romantic, probably.
 But "saccharine"?
 
At 07:58 PM 11/10/98 -0500, you wrote:
>On Tue 10 Nov 98 (16:30:14 +0100), [log in to unmask] wrote:
>> I am playing Felix Mendelssohn's first organ sonata. I have tried
>> playing it "pleno", because Mendelssohn wants it so, but it is too
>> shrill, as I think. Is this ok? Or which stops should I use and which
>> not?
>
> Dear Michael,
>
> What a splendid work that 1st Organ Sonata in F is!  I played it only about
> a month ago.
>
> The first movement needs to start with "Volles Werk": not every stop out,
> but the main Diapason chorus to Mixture, with reeds (if there are no reeds
> on the Great, then with the Swell reeds coupled). At bar 11, put the reeds
> off (or just decouple the Swell). Don't forget the Pedal reeds also. If your
> Mixtures are too shrill, then drop the Sesquialtera or the Scharf, but keep
> the 12th-19th-22nd; or reduce to the 12th-15th.
>
> For the Chorale (marked Clav. II) you will need the Swell reeds which you
> decoupled at bar 11, unless you have a Choir or Positive division with
> suitable reed stop(s).
>
> 39 bars before the end of the 1st movement you should return to Full Organ
> again, and for the final pedal entry two bars later add the Pedal reeds.
>
> The second movement is a delicious bit of romantic saccharine which needs
> contrasting tone colours (Gamba versus Flute). From bar 49, take the left
> hand as a tenor solo on the Choir Clarinet for 11 or 12 bars; returning to
> the Clarinet for the snatch of the melody in the left hand from bar 69.
>
> In the 3rd movement Mendelssohn calls for the Vox Humana or Corno di
Bassetto
> (Clarinet) with tremulant for the top two staves. The chords on the third
> staff down should be on Great diapasons to 12th-15th rather than Volles
> Werk. You do not want to drown out your Vox Humana or C. de B. Or use
> Great Flutes 8 and 4, plus the Diapason 12th and 15th.
>
> The final movement must follow on the 3rd without a break. You will need
> the Great flues with Swell coupled, but keep the reeds in reserve and add
> them over the long pedal-point bottom C, culminating with the pedal reeds
> for the pedal cadenza under the G minor chord. Then take off the Pedal
> reed, but add it again for the pedal flourish after the long bottom F.
> The final perfect cadence should be on Volles Werk; but if you have a
> Solo Tuba Mirabilis, take the *left hand chords only* on the Tuba, rather
> than just coupling the Solo to Great. In this case use the Swell Sub-octave
> coupler to Great if you have one; or make sure all the manual doubles are
> "on" for the final right hand chords over the left-hand Tuba.
>
> That should "bring the house down"!
>
> Ben
>--
> Revd Ben Crick, BA CF
> <[log in to unmask]>
> 232 Canterbury Road, Birchington, Kent, CT7 9TD (UK)
> http://www.cnetwork.co.uk/crick.htm
>
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>
 
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Note:  opinions  expressed on PIPORG-L are those of the  individual con-
tributors and not necessarily  those of the list owners  nor of the Uni-
versity at Albany.  For a brief  summary of list  commands, send mail to
[log in to unmask]  saying  GET LSVCMMDS.TXT  or see  the  web  page at
http://albany.edu/~piporg-l/lsvcmmds.html .
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