Mendelssohn produced an early work for Organ in 1837, but it was a London music publishing firm who commissioned the first of his mature Organ works. The second half of the commissioned pieces are published in this volume. Mendelssohn himself saved all his manuscripts and they have survived in libraries in Berlin and Krakow, providing the subtitle of this book.Eleven movements are included here, all written in 1844 and 1845. What were originally commissioned as 'Voluntaries' were changed at the composer's request to 'Sonatas'. Whether one considers these movements as drafts and sketches or as distinct musical entities in their own right, the works are not identical to the final, printed versions. For those who appreciate or study the Mendelssohn Organ oeuvre, this volume is of immense interest.While the Organ never completely fell from grace as the instrument of church and religious music, it is the editor's belief that in the century dividing JS Bach from these works of Mendelssohn, fashion and church practice had greatly diminished its importance and few works of real note were produced. Mendelssohn was introduced to the Organ early in his prodigious career and found a warm audience for his Organ performances in Engand, to which he returned nine times over nearly twenty years. / Orgue
