Historical-Critical Online-Edition of the Correspondence of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Sebastian Klotz
• Subject Area: Musicology
• Term: since 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 320536815

This long-term editorial project entails the complete correspondence of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdi (1809-1847), the composer, in the form of a digital, critical online edition (FMB-C: Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Correspondence). Next to a diplomatic presentation of approx. 6 000 letters written by Mendelssohn, the edition provides over 7 200 letters addressed to the composer for the first time. It includes a critical commentary on each individual letter with respect to content and context. These features are complemented by data bases (persons, works), a chronology of Mendelssohn´s life and various registers of letters, works, places, institutions. All digital data sets are marked by XML/TEI-P5 and are available online for free via the web browser. In the third stage of the project, 1 325 letters written by Mendelssohn and approx. 1800 letters which he received between 1842 and 1844 are being processed, as well as further letters addressed to him. This stage builds upon the results of IT development undertaken in the first and second stage of this project. It materialized in a very efficient XML/TEI integrated system solution. Parallel to this, an efficient full text search engine was implemented. Results are displayed in the form of snippets, arranged in the form of listings with combined info-boxes. Via mouse clicks, users are directed to the specific sections which are highlighted across letters, the commentary and further resources or to specific listings of individual persons, works, institutions etc. All textual and data holdings can be searched via mouse click and mouse over, by navigating through the depth of the deposited meta data. They can be grouped according to certain criteria or serve as starting points for further exploratory scenarios. By implementing an intelligent semantic search system, users can deduce the multi-layered textual repository of the edition of the Mendelssohn correspondence and its editorial apparatus in their immense complexity vis-á-vis the information they carry, the meanings and inner relations in an exhaustive manner for the first time. An innovative data protection system allows us to export the full repository of letters in its XML-TEI format, including all related XML/TEI data sets such as registers, commentaries, data links etc. to an archive. It also guarantees a sustainable, long-term protection which functions irrespective of a specific platform and which allows us to reactivate the repository and all related metadata at any time. All textual data, the complete knowledge structure and modalities of representation and the editorial environment can thus be secured universally and with a long-term perspective.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants