Things You'll Need:
- Several hundred dollars
- A passion for classical music
-
Step 1
Shop for your recordings online, or at a discount bookstore or music store like Half-Price Books. If you go to a highbrow store that specializes in classical music, you might find a better selection but you’ll most likely end up paying through the nose.
-
Step 2
Mendelssohn wrote 5 symphonies. If you can find a complete set for an affordable price, buy it. If you can’t, the moody Symphony No. 3 in A Minor (nicknamed the “Scottish”) and the ebullient Symphony No. 4 in A Major (the “Italian”) are essentials.
-
Step 3
Mendelssohn also wrote a lot of great chamber music, but his most brilliant and famous works in this genre--recordings no Mendelssohn collection should be without--are the Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor and the effervescent Octet for Strings in E-flat.
-
Step 4
The overture and incidental music to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is by far the most famous music Mendelssohn wrote for the stage, and no library of his music would be complete without it.
-
Step 5
Mendelssohn’s haunting Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64, is (along with the concert of Beethoven and Brahms) one of the most revered works in this genre. Find a good, well-engineered recording of this masterpiece—it’s sure to become one of your favorites!
-
Step 6
Last but certainly not least is the majestic and moving oratorio “Elijah.” Find a complete recording (the entire piece is over 2 hours in length) and spare no expense to buy the best one available. “Elijah” is truly one of the greatest sacred choral-orchestral scores ever composed--and it will be the crowning jewel of your Mendelssohn collection.
