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Sibelius: A Composer's Life and the Awakening of Finland (review)

called upon to authenticate a Bach manuscript in 1842 (p. 80). It is worth noting, however, that a revival of Bach’s music in England actually predated Mendelssohn’s first arrival. With early advocates of Bach in England, such as Clementi, C. F. Horn, A. F. C. Kollmann, and, later, Samuel Wesley, Mendelssohn followed in the lineage of those promoting Bach in England (see Nicholas Temperley’s and Peter Wollny’s entry on the “Bach Revival” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians [London: Macmillan, 2001], vol. 2, pp. 438– 42 for additional information). What part did Mendelssohn play in England’s Bach revival? The connections Eatock makes between Mendelssohn and Bach do little to illustrate Mendelssohn’s role and its significance in the overall English Bach revival spanning the entire nineteenth century. Another interesting avenue to explore in order to further illustrate Mendelssohn’s effect on English music would be an examination of celebrated English composers of the twentieth century. Several of England’s best known twentieth-century composers can trace their musical lineage back to Mendelssohn through the “new” English composers mentioned above—for example, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Michael Tippett both studied under Stanford at the Royal College of Music. It is difficult to assess the longevity of the value system Mendelssohn imparted to England from the current state of scholarship. Using Mendelssohn and Victorian England as a historical and cultural foundation, a complete study of the Mendelssohn lineage of English composers would greatly benefit our current understanding of his influence on English music. Mendelssohn and Victorian England provides an excellent synthesis of the eighteenyear span (1829–47) during which he often found himself returning to England. Eatock’s prudent decision to focus on such a specific time period allows him to explore Mendelssohn’s life, performances, and events in great detail without appearing overly pedantic. While this book might strike some scholars as noticeably too short to be effective (Mendelssohn and Victorian England includes only 150 pages of text), Eatock instead should be commended for his ability to effectively stay within the bounds of his argument and overall topic. Furthermore, Eatock provides a wellrounded and consistent picture of the many aspects of Mendelssohn’s life, concentrating on Mendelssohn as a composer, person, and philanthropist in the context of English music and culture. This addition of personal details—such as those surrounding Mendelssohn’s wedding, his father’s visit to England, and the death of his beloved sister Fanny—provides the reader with the important coinciding events in Mendelssohn’s life (and perhaps his psyche) as he continued to compose some of his greatest works, such as the oratorio Elijah (1846). With Mendelssohn and Victorian England, an adaptation of his doctoral dissertation, Eatock enters the world of Mendelssohn scholarship with mixed results. He provides strong evidence of Mendelssohn’s longterm effect on English music and musical culture, though occasional hyperbole, occasional excessive detail, and an almost indifferent attitude towards English music detract from the strength of his leading argument. On the whole, however, Mendels sohn and Victorian England is an excellent contribution to contemporary Mendels sohn studies. As the first book to focus specifically on Mendelssohn’s relationship with England, Eatock successfully sets and stays within a reasonable boundary of knowledge, enabling him to provide a sophisticated and well-rounded portrait of both Mendelssohn and English musical culture and society of the time. “Save, perhaps, for the advent of Handel among us, no more important event than the rise of Mendels sohn ever occurred in the history of English music” (“Victorian Music (Con cluded),” The Musical Times 30, no. 558 [1 August 1887]: 465; cited on p. 133).