Explanation

1. This question asks which sentence in the passage serves to indicate the range of Mendelssohn’s musical talents. The correct answer is the fourth sentence (“From then . . . conductor”), the only sentence in the passage that mentions Mendelssohn’s achievements across three different realms: composing, piano performance, and conducting. All the other sentences can be eliminated because, while they consider the question of Mendelssohn’s claim to greatness, they do not specifically discuss the broad range of his musical talents.

2. C
The passage clearly presents the discrepancy between Mendelssohn’s popularity and his critical standing as an interpretive problem. Therefore, Choice C is correct. The other answer choices are incorrect because the passage never indicates that there was any conflict among the different aspects of Mendelssohn’s professional life; never discusses Schumann’s and Brahms’s popularity; does not discuss any differences between Mendelssohn’s reputation during his lifetime and after his death; and makes no mention of a decline in Mendelssohn’s later life.

3. D
The “reluctance” is mentioned in the context of a discussion about Mendelssohn’s critical standing and thus is being ascribed to music critics generally.
Choices A and B can be eliminated because the passage does not discuss any composers’ views of Mendelssohn. Choice C is incorrect because the word “reluctance” is mentioned only after the passage turns from discussing the popular view of Mendelssohn to the critical view. Choice E is incorrect because the words “As Haggin put it” indicate that Haggin is only one example of critics who have this reluctance.

4. E
Schumann and Brahms are mentioned as a way of explaining how critics rank Mendelssohn — that is, as less accomplished than some other composers who are
widely acknowledged as major. Therefore, Choice E is correct. Choice A might look like a correct answer at first glance. However, careful consideration reveals that the point the author is making when Schumann and Brahms are mentioned is not the frequency of that comparison but the results of it. Therefore, Choice A can be eliminated. Choices B, C, and D are incorrect because the passage does not discuss Schumann’s and Brahms’s popularity, Mendelssohn’s influence on other composers, or the milieu in which Mendelssohn worked.