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We only have one edition of this. It says it's Breitkopf & Härtel, but the print at the bottom the original publisher was Joh.André in Offenbach. Did Breitkopf buy André at any point, and would this be a straight reprint of that one? One reason I am asking is that it might be worth noting this publisher also on the work page.

The next question has to do with other reprints. I have just done a comparison of the IMC version edited by Simon, though just the piano parts. It has to be a straight reprint of the Breitkopf/André, because there are the same number of bars per line, the tempo fonts are the same, and there are collisions between accents and staff lines that are in exactly the same places. The only difference is that IMC obviously stripped the German title and German names of instruments and replaced them with English, and they moved Mendelssohn's name to the right. Then they added a 1957 copyright notice: "Copyright 1957 by International Music Company, New York City".

I haven't compared the clarinet and basset horn parts yet, because I would have to get them on interlibrary loan, but if there is anything worth a copyright, it would be in those.

Is it worth noting that the piano part is a reprint apart from the English titles?

The André statement is merely the common phrase which Breitkopf included in all their Gesammtausgaben starting with the Beethoven series in 1862 - a mention of the original publisher of the work in question. André remained independent well into the 20th century as I recall.

From your description, it would appear the International is a mere reprint and quite lacking in any original added material to qualify for a copyright. Better check the parts, though. It's possible Simon's additional material appears there. If that's the case, we could post the score only. It would also be a good idea to check the copyright office database for Mendelssohn items issued in 1957 to see if there's a registration and renewal.

Carolus wrote:It would also be a good idea to check the copyright office database for Mendelssohn items issued in 1957 to see if there's a registration and renewal.

There appears to be no such entry for this item - IMC's notice is most likely copyfraud.

KGill wrote:IMC's notice is most likely copyfraud

Wouldn't be the first time.

I will order the parts on interlibrary loan, and in the meantime, post a comment about the IMC edition. Although it might be uploadable, it might not even be worth it, given that it's the same. I just thought the comment might save people the hassle of tracking down a certain edition, when they can download what we have and get the same thing.