Mendelssohn's 'Allegro Brillante'

The Freemantle Collection

Guide to the Freemantle Collection in the Leeds University Special Collections and the significant materials that can be found within.

Charles Dibdin

Charles Dibdin's comic operas. Part of an exhibition at Leeds Special Collections about the collecting activities of W. T. Freemantle.

Charles Dibdin's 'Table Entertainments'

Charles Dibdin's one-man shows. Part of an exhibition at Leeds Special Collections about the collecting activities of W. T. Freemantle.

Dr. Benjamin Cooke's Protest

Dr. Benjamin Cooke protests at losing his post. Part of an exhibition at Leeds Special Collections about the collecting activities of W. T. Freemantle.

E. J. Loder's 'Manfred'

E. J. Loder's musical setting of Manfred. Part of an exhibition at Leeds Special Collections about the collecting activities of W. T. Freemantle.

W. T. Freemantle the composer

W. T. Freemantle as a composer. Part of an exhibition at Leeds Special Collections about the collecting activities of W. T. Freemantle.

Mendelssohn's 'Christe du Lamm Gottes'

Autograph score of Mendelssohn's 'Christe du Lamm Gottes'. Part of an exhibition at Leeds Special Collections about the collecting activities of W. T. Freemantle.

Mendelssohn's 'Allegro Brillante'

Mendelssohn's early compositional sketch 'Allegro Brillante'. Part of an exhibition at Leeds Special Collections about the collecting activities of W. T. Freemantle.

Mendelssohn's 'Auf Einer Gondel' and 'Elijah'

Mendelssohn's 'Elijah' and 'Auf Einer Gondel'. Part of an exhibition at Leeds Special Collections about the collecting activities of W. T. Freemantle.

Symington the 'thief'!

John Alexander Symington and the Library of Congress. Part of an exhibition at Leeds Special Collections about the collecting activities of W. T. Freemantle.

One significant document in the Freemantle Collection is a manuscript of Mendelssohn’s ‘Allegro Brillante’ in A major, Op. 92. It is a copy of Mendelssohn’s early compositional sketches for this work, which Freemantle transcribed from the original autograph, presumably to allow comparison to the final completed composition.

The document contains passages from the ‘Allegro assai vivace’ section in 6/8, which most printed publications begin with. However, it also contains fairly complete sketches of an ‘Andante’ section, which comes before the ‘Allegro assai vivace’. The Andante was omitted from the first publication by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1851 and in all subsequent copies, but was restored in the 1994 edition by E. G Heinemann, published by G. Henel Verlag. The 'Allegro assai Vivace' section is different to the published composition - one example being in the Primo part, where the opening of the Vivace contains harmonic differences between the sketch and final composition, but retains rhythmic similarities.

The MS is dated 26 March, 1841, in Leipzig. This work was written as a gift to Clara Schumann to show support for her whilst she was engaged in legal battles with her father. It was first performed on Wednesday 31 March 1841, at the Gewandhaus concert hall in Leipzig. It was also the first concert that Clara Schumann gave under her new name, having previously performed as Clara Wieck.