 In 1835 Mendelssohn was named conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra . He chose this position although he had also been offered direction of the opera house in Munich and the editorship of the prestigious music journal , the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung . Mendelssohn concentrated on developing the musical life of Leipzig , working with the orchestra , the opera house , the Choir of St. Thomas Church , and the city 's other choral and musical institutions . Mendelssohn 's concerts included , in addition to many of his own works , three series of " historical concerts " and a number of works by his contemporaries . He was deluged by offers of music from rising composers and would @-@ be composers ; amongst these was Richard Wagner , who submitted his early Symphony , which to Wagner 's disgust Mendelssohn lost or mislaid . Mendelssohn also revived interest in Franz Schubert . Robert Schumann discovered the manuscript of Schubert 's 9th Symphony and sent it to Mendelssohn , who promptly premiered it in Leipzig on 21 March 1839 , more than a decade after Schubert 's death . 
