When Mendelssohn learned from his publisher Nikolaus Simrock that he was to receive an additional honorarium for a part of his “Lieder ohne Worte”, he effusively thanked him for this gift. However, the gift that Mendelssohn, in his turn, made to posterity with these Songs Without Words could probably not have been foreseen even by him at the time.

These “Original Melodies”, “Romanzen” or “Clavierstücke”, which only later gained the title “Lieder ohne Worte”, enjoyed great success during the c...