Easter Sonata (Ostersonate)

This piano sonata was still considered to be by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy when it was recorded by Éric Heidsieck in 1972. It was not until 2010, almost 200 years after its composition in 1828, that musicologist Angela Mace was able to unequivocally attribute the work to Mendelssohn’s sister Fanny Hensel. Bärenreiter presents the first Urtext edition of the “Easter Sonata”. It is based on the autograph, which was inaccessible for a long time due to it being in private hands. Now the manuscript is part of the Robert Owen Lehman Collection.

The first volume of the edition contains the critical edition of the sonata, supplemented by a detailed Critical Commentary (Eng). The second volume offers a complete facsimile reproduction in colour of Fanny Hensel’s autograph. Both volumes can be placed side by side, practical for study purposes. The editor is Marie Rolf, Emeritus Professor of Music Theory at the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester. The Foreword (Eng/Ger) by renowned Mendelssohn specialist R. Larry Todd provides information about the exciting history of the work and its rediscovery.

In four movements, the “Ostersonate” alternates between two that are relatively free from extra-musical considerations (the first and third), and two more intricately bound to the narrative of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection (the second and fourth).