Böcker av Eduard Devrient

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Noch in keinem Momente des Völkerlebens ist die höhere Sendung der Künste zur Veredlung des Menschengeschlechtes so leuchtend hervorgetreten, hat sich noch nie zu so kräftiger, tiefgreifender Wirkung angeboten, als in der großen Wendung unserer Tage. Schule und Kirche, die bisher allein anerkannten Erziehungsstätten, sind einem Streite verfallen, der noch langehin ein heftiges Sträuben des mündig gewordenen Volkes gegen jeden fühlbaren Zwang erhalten wird. Was kann daher willkommener sein, als die sanfte Gewalt der Künste, die es allein vermag, die Gemüther zu beschwichtigen, in rein menschlichem Antheil die Herzen aller Parteien zu vereinigen, durch unmerklichen Zwang wieder Achtung vor Sitte, Friede und stillem Glück zu verbreiten, auf diesem heitren Wege die Geister wieder den strengen Erziehungsstätten zuzuführen und der großen, gemeinsamen Begeisterung für eine neue, edle Freiheit des Völkerlebens den höchsten Schwung und den schönsten Ausdruck zu verleihen! Ueberall muß es daher als ein Zeugniß sorgsamer Staatsweisheit anerkannt werden, wo die Organisation des Kunsteinflusses auf das Volksleben von der Landesregierung in thätigen Angriff genommen wird.

Actor and baritone Eduard Devrient (1801-77) first met Felix Mendelssohn (1809-47) in 1822, and they remained close friends thereafter. During his lifetime, Mendelssohn achieved celebrity status as a composer, virtuoso pianist and conductor, and it was Devrient who secured in 1829 the famous performance in Berlin, under Mendelssohn's direction, of the St Matthew Passion, which began the Bach revival. First published in German in 1869, this work is reissued here in the English translation of the same year by Natalia Macfarren (1827-1913), singer and wife of the composer Sir George Macfarren. Her work as a translator included the first English versions of Wagner's Lohengrin and Verdi's Rigoletto. Although Devrient does not always exactly reproduce the correspondence, particularly where Mendelssohn is critical of others, the letters and commentary here serve to illuminate the development of a great composer.