Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- A Checklist of Mendelssohn's Life and Principal Works -- Biographical Notes -- I The Man -- 1 Appearance and Manner -- 2 Character and Personality -- 3 Relationships with Women -- II Multiplicity of Talent -- 4 Writing -- 5 Editing Music -- 6 Drawing and Painting -- III Family Background, Childhood and Education -- 7 Moses Mendelssohn -- 8 Abraham, Lea and Fanny Mendelssohn -- 9 The Children's Education -- 10 Social and Intellectual Environment -- 11 Musical Activities -- IV Religion and Race -- 12 Moses Mendelssohn's Legacy -- 13 Abraham Mendelssohn's Dilemma -- 14 Felix Mendelssohn's Faith -- 15 The Family Name -- 16 Early Nineteenth-Century Anti-Semitism -- V Professional Career -- 17 The Singakademie -- 18 Düsseldorf -- 19 Leipzig -- 20 The Genesis of the Leipzig Conservatorium -- 21 Between Berlin and Leipzig, 1841-1844 -- 22 The Establishment of the Leipzig Conservatorium -- 23 Generalmusikdirektor in Berlin -- 24 The Final Years in Leipzig -- VI The Practical Musician -- 25 Keyboard Playing -- 26 Improvisation -- 27 Sight-Reading and Musical Memory -- 28 String Playing -- 29 Other Instruments -- 30 Conducting -- VII The Teacher -- 31 Charles Edward Horsley -- 32 Emil Naumann -- 33 The Leipzig Conservatorium (Wasielewski, Rockstro, Meinardus) -- 34 Joseph Joachim -- VIII The Composer -- 35 Aesthetics and Aspirations -- IX Critical Reception -- 36 The Early Years, 1818-1829 -- 37 Die Hochzeit des Camacho -- 38 Piano Music and Songs, 1825-1829 -- 39 The Initial Impact of Mendelssohn's Music in England -- 40 The Years of Widening Recognition, 1831-1836 -- 41 The Piano Concerto in G Minor, Op. 25 -- 42 The Concert Overtures -- 43 Songs without Words -- 44 St Paul -- 45 The Years of Mastery, 1836-1847 -- 46 General Appraisals during Mendelssohn's Lifetime.

47 Critical Responses to Individual Works and Genres, 1837-1847 -- X Posthumous Reputation -- 48 Obituaries and Contemporaneous General Assessments -- 49 Critical Consensus in England during the 1850s -- 50 Critical Dissension in Germany during the 1850s -- 51 Das Judenthum in der Musik -- 52 Changing Critical Perspectives -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- Illustrations follow pages 48 -- Illustrations follow pages 282.