Misplaced Pages

#624375

90-572: Shortly after Mendelssohn 's death in 1847, a group of his friends and admirers formed a committee in London to establish a scholarship to enable musicians to study at the Leipzig Conservatoire , which Mendelssohn had founded in 1843. Their fundraising included a performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah in 1848, featuring Jenny Lind . The link between London and Leipzig fell through, resulting in two Mendelssohn Scholarships. In Germany,

180-528: A bastion of this anti-radical outlook. After a long period of relative denigration due to changing musical tastes and antisemitism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, his creative originality has been re-evaluated. He is now among the most popular composers of the Romantic era. Felix Mendelssohn was born on 3 February 1809, in Hamburg , at the time an independent city-state , in the same house where,

270-600: A close personal friend, Ignaz Moscheles, was of an older generation and equally conservative in outlook. Moscheles preserved this conservative attitude at the Leipzig Conservatory until his own death in 1870. Mendelssohn married Cécile Charlotte Sophie Jeanrenaud (10 October 1817 – 25 September 1853), the daughter of a French Reformed Church clergyman, on 28 March 1837. The couple had five children: Carl, Marie, Paul, Lili and Felix August. The second youngest child, Felix August, contracted measles in 1844 and

360-635: A composer, who both greatly admired his music. Mendelssohn's oratorio Elijah was commissioned by the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival and premiered on 26 August 1846, at the Town Hall, Birmingham . It was composed to a German text translated into English by William Bartholomew , who authored and translated many of Mendelssohn's works during his time in England. On his last visit to Britain in 1847, Mendelssohn

450-697: A group of works of his early maturity: the String Octet (1825), the Overture A Midsummer Night's Dream (1826), which in its finished form also owes much to the influence of Adolf Bernhard Marx , at the time a close friend of Mendelssohn, and the two early string quartets : Op. 12 (1829) and Op. 13 (1827), which both show a remarkable grasp of the techniques and ideas of Beethoven's last quartets that Mendelssohn had been closely studying. These four works show an intuitive command of form, harmony, counterpoint , colour, and compositional technique, which in

540-431: A letter "My birthday was celebrated very nicely ... Felix has given me a 'song without words' for my album (he has lately written several beautiful ones)." Mendelssohn himself resisted attempts to interpret the songs too literally, and objected when his friend Marc-André Souchay sought to put words to them to make them literal: "What the music I love expresses to me, is not thought too indefinite to put into words, but on

630-466: A letter to a stranger, as a place "where it is to be hoped there is still music, but no more sorrow or partings." While Mendelssohn was often presented as equable, happy, and placid in temperament, particularly in the detailed family memoirs published by his nephew Sebastian Hensel after the composer's death, this was misleading. The music historian R. Larry Todd notes "the remarkable process of idealization" of Mendelssohn's character "that crystallized in

720-512: A musical career until it became clear that he was seriously dedicated. Mendelssohn grew up in an intellectual environment. Frequent visitors to the salon organised by his parents at their home in Berlin included artists, musicians and scientists, among them Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt , and the mathematician Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet (whom Mendelssohn's sister Rebecka would later marry). The musician Sarah Rothenburg has written of

810-465: A number of chamber works. His first work, a piano quartet, was published when he was 13. It was probably Abraham Mendelssohn who procured the publication of this quartet by the house of Schlesinger . In 1824 the 15-year-old wrote his first symphony for full orchestra (in C minor, Op. 11). At age 16 Mendelssohn wrote his String Octet in E-flat major , a work which has been regarded as "mark[ing]

900-418: A number of the songs, namely those that became Book 5 and the first song of Book 6, which he presented to Queen Victoria in 1844. Mendelssohn was also aware of arrangements of some of the earlier Lieder for piano duet by Carl Czerny . Many others have made various arrangements of individual songs, including for orchestra, chamber ensemble , or solo instrument with piano accompaniment. One such example

990-668: A series of strokes. His grandfather Moses, Fanny, and both his parents had all died from similar apoplexies . Although he had been generally meticulous in the management of his affairs, he died intestate . Mendelssohn's funeral was held at the Paulinerkirche , Leipzig, and he was buried at the Dreifaltigkeitsfriedhof I in Berlin- Kreuzberg . The pallbearers included Moscheles, Schumann and Niels Gade . Mendelssohn had once described death, in

SECTION 10

#1732798172625

1080-400: A staged performance but to evoke a literary theme in performance on a concert platform; this was a genre which became a popular form in musical Romanticism . In 1824 Mendelssohn studied under the composer and piano virtuoso Ignaz Moscheles , who confessed in his diaries that he had little to teach him. Moscheles and Mendelssohn became close colleagues and lifelong friends. The year 1827 saw

1170-501: A standard item in many middle-class households. The pieces are within the grasp of pianists of various abilities and this undoubtedly contributed to their popularity. This great popularity has caused many critics to under-rate their musical value. The first volume was published by Novello in London (1832) as Original Melodies for the Pianoforte , but the later volumes used the title Songs Without Words . The works were part of

1260-556: A strong following, which enabled him to make a good impression on British musical life. He composed and performed, and also edited for British publishers the first critical editions of oratorios of Handel and of the organ music of J. S. Bach. Scotland inspired two of his most famous works: the overture The Hebrides (also known as Fingal's Cave ); and the Scottish Symphony (Symphony No. 3). An English Heritage blue plaque commemorating Mendelssohn's residence in London

1350-425: A variety of works by great composers in chronological order, and must explain to him how they contributed to the advance of music." Secondly, it highlights that Mendelssohn was more concerned to reinvigorate the musical legacy which he inherited, rather than to replace it with new forms and styles, or with the use of more exotic orchestration . In these ways he differed significantly from many of his contemporaries in

1440-584: A year later, the dedicatee and first performer of his Violin Concerto, Ferdinand David , would be born. Mendelssohn's father, the banker Abraham Mendelssohn , was the son of the German Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn , whose family was prominent in the German Jewish community. Until his baptism at age seven, Mendelssohn was brought up largely without religion. His mother, Lea Salomon ,

1530-807: Is an incomplete chronological list of recipients of the British Mendelssohn Scholarship. Official website of the UK Mendelssohn Scholarship Foundation Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 1809 – 4 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn , was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonies , concertos, piano music, organ music and chamber music . His best-known works include

1620-644: Is an incomplete chronological list of recipients of the German Mendelssohn Scholarship. The funds raised at the 1848 concert were invested and allowed to accumulate until 1856, when Arthur Sullivan was elected as the first scholar. Since then it has been awarded from time to time, administered by the Mendelssohn Scholarship Foundation, which is linked to the Royal Academy of Music . The foundation

1710-523: Is conveyed in his comments to a correspondent who suggested converting some of the Songs Without Words into lieder by adding texts: "What [the] music I love expresses to me, are not thoughts that are too indefinite for me to put into words, but on the contrary, too definite ." Schumann wrote of Mendelssohn that he was "the Mozart of the nineteenth century, the most brilliant musician,

1800-613: Is not related to any of the piano pieces. Cellist Carlos Prieto called the piece "an exquisite composition, worthy of the finest pieces Mendelssohn ever composed for this genre." A piece for piano in E minor by Mendelssohn was published after his death under Op. 117, entitled Albumblatt ("Album Leaf"); a further piece for piano by Mendelssohn was published after his death, without opus number, listed as WoO 10, titled Gondellied ("Gondola Song"). Some historians believe these to have been intended for another set of Songs Without Words . Mendelssohn made piano duet arrangements of

1890-510: Is such a frightful muddle [...] that one ought to wash one's hands after handling one of his scores"; and of Meyerbeer's opera Robert le diable "I consider it ignoble", calling its villain Bertram "a poor devil". When his friend the composer Ferdinand Hiller suggested in conversation to Mendelssohn that he looked rather like Meyerbeer – they were actually distant cousins, both descendants of Rabbi Moses Isserles  – Mendelssohn

SECTION 20

#1732798172625

1980-570: Is the arrangement of 22 of the songs by Mendelssohn's student, the German violist Friedrich Hermann (1828–1907), for violin and piano. In 1834, Franz Liszt wrote his Grosses Konzertstück über Mendelssohns Lieder ohne Worte ( Grand Concert Piece on Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words ) for 2 pianos. This was based on songs 1–3 of Book I, Op. 19b. Liszt and a student, Mlle. Vial, started to play it in Paris on 9 April 1835 but Liszt became ill during

2070-727: The Journal of the Royal Musical Association that "The Committee of the Mendelssohn Scholarship Foundation possesses material indicating that Mendelssohn wrote passionate love letters to Jenny Lind entreating her to join him in an adulterous relationship and threatening suicide as a means of exerting pressure upon her, and that these letters were destroyed on being discovered after her death." Mendelssohn met and worked with Lind many times, and started an opera, Lorelei , for her, based on

2160-637: The Jerusalem Church , at which time Felix was given the additional names Jakob Ludwig. Abraham and his wife Lea were baptised in 1822, and formally adopted the surname Mendelssohn Bartholdy (which they had used since 1812) for themselves and for their children. The name Bartholdy was added at the suggestion of Lea's brother, Jakob Salomon Bartholdy, who had inherited a property of this name in Luisenstadt and adopted it as his own surname. In an 1829 letter to Felix, Abraham explained that adopting

2250-551: The Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn written between 1829 and 1845. His sister, Fanny Mendelssohn , and other composers also wrote pieces in the same genre. The eight volumes of Songs Without Words , each consisting of six songs ( Lieder ), were written at various points throughout Mendelssohn's life and published separately. The piano became increasingly popular in Europe during the early nineteenth century, when it became

2340-413: The Romantic tradition of writing short lyrical pieces for the piano, although the specific concept of "Songs Without Words" was new. Mendelssohn's sister Fanny wrote a number of similar pieces (though not so entitled) and, according to some music historians, she may have helped inspire the concept. The title Song Without Words seems to have been Felix Mendelssohn's own invention. In 1828, Fanny wrote in

2430-602: The St. Matthew Passion . Mendelssohn worked with the dramatist Karl Immermann to improve local theatre standards, and made his first appearance as an opera conductor in Immermann's production of Mozart's Don Giovanni at the end of 1833, where he took umbrage at the audience's protests about the cost of tickets. His frustration at his everyday duties in Düsseldorf, and the city's provincialism, led him to resign his position at

2520-610: The overture and incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream (which includes his " Wedding March "), the Italian Symphony , the Scottish Symphony , the oratorio St. Paul , the oratorio Elijah , the overture The Hebrides , the mature Violin Concerto , the String Octet , and the melody used in the Christmas carol " Hark! The Herald Angels Sing ". Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words are his most famous solo piano compositions. Mendelssohn's grandfather

2610-485: The 13 early string symphonies . These were written from 1821 to 1823, when he was between the ages of 12 and 14, principally for performance in the Mendelssohn household, and not published or publicly performed until long after his death. His first published works were his three piano quartets (1822–1825; Op. 1 in C minor, Op. 2 in F minor and Op. 3 in B minor); but his capacities are especially revealed in

2700-482: The Bartholdy name was meant to demonstrate a decisive break with the traditions of his father Moses: "There can no more be a Christian Mendelssohn than there can be a Jewish Confucius ". (Letter to Felix of 8 July 1829). On embarking on his musical career, Felix did not entirely drop the name Mendelssohn as Abraham had requested, but in deference to his father signed his letters and had his visiting cards printed using

2790-695: The Jewish Mendelssohn family, the award was discontinued by the Nazis in 1934. It was revived by the Ministry of Culture of the former East Germany in 1963, in the form of two annual prizes for composition and for performance. It is now awarded by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation . As well as Humperdinck, famous recipients include the pianist Wilhelm Kempff and the composer Kurt Weill . The following

Mendelssohn Scholarship - Misplaced Pages Continue

2880-467: The King's request, music for productions of Sophocles 's Antigone (1841 – an overture and seven pieces ) and Oedipus at Colonus (1845), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1843) and Racine 's Athalie (1845). But the funds for the school never materialised, and many of the court's promises to Mendelssohn regarding finances, title, and concert programming were broken. He was therefore not displeased to have

2970-687: The Mendelssohn Scholarship was established in the 1870s as two awards of 1500 Marks, one for composition and one for performance, for any student of a music school in Germany, and was funded by the Prussian state as part of an arrangement under which the Mendelssohn family donated the composer's manuscripts to the state. The first recipient was the composer, Engelbert Humperdinck , who used it to travel to Italy in 1879. Funded by

3060-564: The Prussian throne in 1840 with ambitions to develop Berlin as a cultural centre (including the establishment of a music school, and reform of music for the church), the obvious choice to head these reforms was Mendelssohn. He was reluctant to undertake the task, especially in the light of his existing strong position in Leipzig. Mendelssohn nonetheless spent some time in Berlin, writing some church music such as Die Deutsche Liturgie , and, at

3150-614: The Singakademie; Zelter, whose tastes in music were conservative, was also an admirer of the Bach tradition. This undoubtedly played a significant part in forming Felix Mendelssohn's musical tastes, as his works reflect this study of Baroque and early classical music. His fugues and chorales especially reflect a tonal clarity and use of counterpoint reminiscent of Johann Sebastian Bach , whose music influenced him deeply. Mendelssohn probably made his first public concert appearance at

3240-463: The Singakademie; but at a vote in January 1833 he was defeated for the post by Carl Friedrich Rungenhagen . This may have been because of Mendelssohn's youth, and fear of possible innovations; it was also suspected by some to be attributable to his Jewish ancestry. Following this rebuff, Mendelssohn divided most of his professional time over the next few years between Britain and Düsseldorf , where he

3330-402: The age of nine, when he participated in a chamber music concert accompanying a horn duo. He was a prolific composer from an early age. As an adolescent, his works were often performed at home with a private orchestra for the associates of his wealthy parents amongst the intellectual elite of Berlin. Between the ages of 12 and 14, Mendelssohn wrote 13 string symphonies for such concerts, and

3420-566: The age of seven years, Mendelssohn was baptised with his brother and sisters in a private domestic ceremony by Johann Jakob Stegemann, Minister of the Evangelical congregation of Berlin's Jerusalem Church and New Church . Although Mendelssohn was a conforming Christian as a member of the Reformed Church, he was both conscious and proud of his Jewish ancestry and notably of his connection with his grandfather, Moses Mendelssohn. He

3510-507: The backing of Zelter and the assistance of the actor Eduard Devrient , Mendelssohn arranged and conducted a performance in Berlin of Bach's St Matthew Passion . Four years previously his grandmother, Bella Salomon , had given him a copy of the manuscript of this (by then all-but-forgotten) masterpiece. The orchestra and choir for the performance were provided by the Berlin Singakademie. The success of this performance, one of

3600-650: The basis of the extensive collection of Mendelssohn manuscripts, including the so-called "Green Books" of his correspondence, now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. Cécile Mendelssohn Bartholdy died less than six years after her husband, on 25 September 1853. Mendelssohn became close to the Swedish soprano Jenny Lind , whom he met in October 1844. Papers confirming their relationship had not been made public. In 2013, George Biddlecombe confirmed in

3690-438: The beginning of his maturity as a composer." This Octet and his Overture to Shakespeare 's A Midsummer Night's Dream , which he wrote a year later in 1826, are the best-known of his early works. (Later, in 1843, he also wrote incidental music for the play, including the famous " Wedding March ".) The Overture is perhaps the earliest example of a concert overture  – that is, a piece not written deliberately to accompany

Mendelssohn Scholarship - Misplaced Pages Continue

3780-410: The best education possible. Fanny became a pianist well known in Berlin musical circles as a composer; originally Abraham had thought that she, rather than Felix, would be the more musical. But it was not considered proper, by either Abraham or Felix, for a woman to pursue a career in music, so she remained an active but non-professional musician. Abraham was initially disinclined to allow Felix to follow

3870-420: The classical tradition had tended to be at the transition from the development section of the movement to the recapitulation; whereas Berlioz and other "modernists" sought to have the emotional climax at the end of a movement, if necessary by adding an extended coda to follow the recapitulation proper. Mendelssohn's solution to this problem was less sensational than Berlioz's approach, but was rooted in changing

3960-414: The contradictions between classical forms and the sentiments of Romanticism. The expressiveness of Romantic music presented a problem in adherence to sonata form ; the final ( recapitulation ) section of a movement could seem, in the context of Romantic style, a bland element without passion or soul. Furthermore, it could be seen as a pedantic delay before reaching the emotional climax of a movement, which in

4050-594: The contrary, too definite ". (Mendelssohn's own italics) Mendelssohn also wrote other Songs Without Words not collected in volumes, and published only in recent years. Furthermore, original drafts exist for many of the 'Songs' many of which differ quite substantially from the eventually published versions. In 2008, the Italian pianist Roberto Prosseda recorded a collection of Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words for Decca Records totalling 56 Lieder , some of them never recorded before. The titles attributed to some of

4140-435: The early Romantic period, such as Wagner, Berlioz and Franz Liszt . Whilst Mendelssohn admired Liszt's virtuosity at the keyboard, he found his music jejune. Berlioz said of Mendelssohn that he had "perhaps studied the music of the dead too closely." The musicologist Greg Vitercik considers that, while "Mendelssohn's music only rarely aspires to provoke", the stylistic innovations evident from his earliest works solve some of

4230-496: The effect as "to assimilate the dynamic trajectory of 'external form' to the 'logical' unfolding of the story of the theme". Richard Taruskin wrote that, although Mendelssohn produced works of extraordinary mastery at a very early age, he never outgrew his precocious youthful style. [...] He remained stylistically conservative [...] feeling no need to attract attention with a display of "revolutionary" novelty. Throughout his short career he remained comfortably faithful to

4320-605: The end of 1834. He had offers from both Munich and Leipzig for important musical posts, namely, direction of the Munich Opera , the editorship of the prestigious Leipzig music journal the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung , and direction of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra ; he accepted the latter in 1835. In Leipzig, Mendelssohn concentrated on developing the town's musical life by working with

4410-554: The excuse to return to Leipzig. In 1843 Mendelssohn founded a major music school – the Leipzig Conservatory, now the Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" . where he persuaded Ignaz Moscheles and Robert Schumann to join him. Other prominent musicians, including the string players Ferdinand David and Joseph Joachim and the music theorist Moritz Hauptmann , also became staff members. After Mendelssohn's death in 1847, his musically conservative tradition

4500-678: The family was assembled ... he began to talk incoherently in English. The stern voice of his father at last checked the wild torrent of words; they took him to bed, and a profound sleep of twelve hours restored him to his normal state". Such fits may be related to his early death. Mendelssohn was an enthusiastic visual artist who worked in pencil and watercolour , a skill which he enjoyed throughout his life. His correspondence indicates that he could write with considerable wit in German and English – his letters were sometimes accompanied by humorous sketches and cartoons. On 21 March 1816, at

4590-550: The form 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. In 1829, his sister Fanny wrote to him of "Bartholdy [...] this name that we all dislike". Mendelssohn began taking piano lessons from his mother when he was six, and at seven was tutored by Marie Bigot in Paris. Later in Berlin, all four Mendelssohn children studied piano with Ludwig Berger , who was himself a former student of Muzio Clementi . From at least May 1819 Mendelssohn (initially with his sister Fanny) studied counterpoint and composition with Carl Friedrich Zelter in Berlin. This

SECTION 50

#1732798172625

4680-527: The household that "Europe came to their living room". Abraham Mendelssohn renounced the Jewish religion prior to Felix's birth and he and his wife decided against having Felix circumcised . Felix and his siblings were at first brought up without religious education; on 21 March 1816, they were baptized in a private ceremony in the family's Berlin apartment by the Reformed Protestant minister of

4770-566: The legend of the Lorelei Rhine maidens; the opera was unfinished at his death. He is said to have tailored the aria "Hear Ye Israel", in his oratorio Elijah , to Lind's voice, although she did not sing the part until after his death, at a concert in December 1848. In 1847, Mendelssohn attended a London performance of Meyerbeer's Robert le diable  – an opera that musically he despised – in order to hear Lind's British debut, in

4860-429: The memoirs of the composer's circle", including Hensel's. The nickname "discontented Polish count" was given to Mendelssohn on account of his aloofness, and he referred to the epithet in his letters. He was frequently given to fits of temper which occasionally led to collapse. Devrient mentions that on one occasion in the 1830s, when his wishes had been crossed, "his excitement was increased so fearfully ... that when

4950-485: The musical status quo – that is, the "classical" forms, as they were already thought of by his time. His version of romanticism, already evident in his earliest works, consisted in musical "pictorialism" of a fairly conventional, objective nature (though exquisitely wrought). The young Mendelssohn was greatly influenced in his childhood by the music of both J. S. Bach and C. P. E. Bach , and of Beethoven, Joseph Haydn and Mozart; traces of these composers can be seen in

5040-418: The nickname the "Bee's Wedding" since the busy accompaniment to the melody resembles the buzzing of bees. Book 6 was dedicated to Sophie Rosen. Books 7 and 8 were published posthumously . A piece in D major for cello and piano, written by Mendelssohn around 1845 for cellist Lisa Cristiani , was published for the first time after his death. It was designated Opus 109 and entitled Song Without Words . It

5130-423: The one who most clearly sees through the contradictions of the age and for the first time reconciles them." This appreciation brings to the fore two features that characterized Mendelssohn's compositions and his compositional process. First, that his inspiration for musical style was rooted in his technical mastery and his interpretation of the style of previous masters, although he certainly recognized and developed

5220-578: The only person who brought fulfillment to my spirit, and almost as soon as I found him I lost him again." In 1849, she established the Mendelssohn Scholarship Foundation, which makes an award to a young resident British composer every two years in Mendelssohn's memory. The first winner of the scholarship, in 1856, was Arthur Sullivan , then aged 14. In 1869, Lind erected a plaque in Mendelssohn's memory at his birthplace in Hamburg. Something of Mendelssohn's intense attachment to his personal vision of music

5310-478: The opinion of R. Larry Todd justifies claims frequently made that Mendelssohn's precocity exceeded even that of Mozart in its intellectual grasp. A 2009 survey by the BBC of 16 music critics opined that Mendelssohn was the greatest composing prodigy in the history of Western classical music. Songs Without Words Songs Without Words ( Lieder ohne Worte ) is a series of short lyrical piano works by

5400-481: The orchestra, the opera house, the Thomanerchor (of which Bach had been a director), 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" featuring music of the eighteenth century, and a number of works by his contemporaries. He was deluged by offers of music from rising and would-be composers; among these

5490-737: The performance. Ferruccio Busoni planned to play it in London with Egon Petri , but died before the plan could be realised. It was finally first performed in full by Richard and John Contiguglia at the 1984 Holland Liszt Festival in Utrecht . There are also examples of recordings of transcriptions, for solo instrument and piano accompaniment, of Mendelssohn lieder written for the voice, which have been entitled "Songs Without Words", for instance by Mischa Maisky . No such arrangements were however made, or so titled, by Mendelssohn himself. Fanny Mendelssohn's early collections of piano works opp. 2,6, and 8 are titled Lieder für das Pianoforte (Songs for

SECTION 60

#1732798172625

5580-605: The piano) . Other composers who were inspired to produce similar sets of pieces of their own included Charles-Valentin Alkan (the five sets of Chants , each ending with a barcarolle ), Anton Rubinstein , Ignaz Moscheles and Edvard Grieg (his 66 Lyric Pieces ). Two Songs Without Words (Op. 10) for piano were also written by Mykola Lysenko . Both Alkan and Rubinstein frequently included items from Mendelssohn's Songs in their recitals. Ferruccio Busoni , who considered Mendelssohn "a master of undisputed greatness", turned to

5670-425: The premiere – and sole performance in his lifetime – of Mendelssohn's opera Die Hochzeit des Camacho . The failure of this production left him disinclined to venture into the genre again. Besides music, Mendelssohn's education included art, literature, languages, and philosophy. He had a particular interest in classical literature and translated Terence 's Andria for his tutor Heyse in 1825; Heyse

5760-421: The role of Alice. The music critic Henry Chorley , who was with him, wrote: "I see as I write the smile with which Mendelssohn, whose enjoyment of Mdlle. Lind's talent was unlimited, turned round and looked at me, as if a load of anxiety had been taken off his mind. His attachment to Mdlle. Lind's genius as a singer was unbounded, as was his desire for her success." Upon Mendelssohn's death, Lind wrote: "[He was]

5850-460: The same relation to the Mozart of that time that the cultivated talk of a grown-up person bears to the prattle of a child." Mendelssohn was invited to meet Goethe on several later occasions, and set a number of Goethe's poems to music. His other compositions inspired by Goethe include the overture Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage (Op. 27, 1828), and the cantata Die erste Walpurgisnacht ( The First Walpurgis Night , Op. 60, 1832). In 1829, with

5940-419: The slightest and most humorous allusions". Thus for example in a letter to his sister Rebecka, Mendelssohn rebukes her complaint about an unpleasant relative: "What do you mean by saying you are not hostile to Jews? I hope this was a joke [...] It is really sweet of you that you do not despise your family, isn't it?" Some modern scholars have devoted considerable energy to demonstrate either that Mendelssohn

6030-457: The songs below were given by Mendelssohn himself. Other fanciful titles were given to certain of them by later publishers but have no authority and do not reflect any intention of the composer. Book 2 was dedicated to Elisa von Woringen. Song number 2 was written for his sister Fanny to celebrate the birth of her son in 1830. Song number 6 was given the title Duetto by Mendelssohn, since two melodies were written to represent two singers. It

6120-450: The strains of early Romanticism in the music of Beethoven and Weber. The historian James Garratt writes that from his early career, "the view emerged that Mendelssohn's engagement with early music was a defining aspect of his creativity." This approach was recognized by Mendelssohn himself, who wrote that, in his meetings with Goethe, he gave the poet "historical exhibitions" at the keyboard; "every morning, for about an hour, I have to play

6210-401: The structural balance of the formal components of the movement. Thus typically in a Mendelssohnian movement, the development-recapitulation transition might not be strongly marked, and the recapitulation section would be harmonically or melodically varied so as not to be a direct copy of the opening, exposition , section; this allowed a logical movement towards a final climax. Vitercik summarizes

6300-559: The summer of 1844, he conducted five of the Philharmonic concerts in London, and wrote: "[N]ever before was anything like this season – we never went to bed before half-past one, every hour of every day was filled with engagements three weeks beforehand, and I got through more music in two months than in all the rest of the year." (Letter to Rebecka Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Soden, 22 July 1844). On subsequent visits Mendelssohn met Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert , himself

6390-413: The very few since Bach's death and the first ever outside of Leipzig , was the central event in the revival of Bach's music in Germany and, eventually, throughout Europe. It earned Mendelssohn widespread acclaim at the age of 20. It also led to one of the few explicit references which Mendelssohn made to his origins: "To think that it took an actor and a Jew's son to revive the greatest Christian music for

6480-635: The world!" Over the next few years Mendelssohn travelled widely. His first visit to England was in 1829; other places visited during the 1830s included Vienna, Florence, Milan, Rome and Naples, in all of which he met with local and visiting musicians and artists. These years proved to be the germination for some of his most famous works, including the Hebrides Overture and the Scottish and Italian symphonies. On Zelter's death in 1832, Mendelssohn had hopes of succeeding him as conductor of

6570-603: The writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (then in his seventies), who was greatly impressed by the child, leading to perhaps the earliest confirmed comparison with Mozart in the following conversation between Goethe and Zelter: "Musical prodigies ... are probably no longer so rare; but what this little man can do in extemporizing and playing at sight borders the miraculous, and I could not have believed it possible at so early an age." "And yet you heard Mozart in his seventh year at Frankfurt?" said Zelter. "Yes", answered Goethe, "... but what your pupil already accomplishes, bears

6660-452: Was Richard Wagner , who submitted his early Symphony , the score of which, to Wagner's disgust, Mendelssohn lost or mislaid. Mendelssohn also revived interest in the music of Franz Schubert . Robert Schumann discovered the manuscript of Schubert's Ninth Symphony and sent it to Mendelssohn, who promptly premiered it in Leipzig on 21 March 1839, more than a decade after Schubert's death. A landmark event during Mendelssohn's Leipzig years

6750-549: Was a member of the Itzig family and a sister of Jakob Salomon Bartholdy . Mendelssohn was the second of four children; his older sister Fanny also displayed exceptional and precocious musical talent. The family moved to Berlin in 1811, leaving Hamburg in disguise in fear of French reprisal for the Mendelssohn bank 's role in breaking Napoleon 's Continental System blockade. Abraham and Lea Mendelssohn sought to give their children – Fanny, Felix, Paul and Rebecka  –

6840-558: Was an important influence on his future career. Zelter had almost certainly been recommended as a teacher by his aunt Sarah Levy , who had been a pupil of W. F. Bach and a patron of C. P. E. Bach . Sarah Levy displayed some talent as a keyboard player, and often played with Zelter's orchestra at the Berliner Singakademie ; she and the Mendelssohn family were among its leading patrons. Sarah had formed an important collection of Bach family manuscripts, which she bequeathed to

6930-587: Was appointed musical director (his first paid post as a musician) in 1833. In the spring of that year Mendelssohn directed the Lower Rhenish Music Festival in Düsseldorf, beginning with a performance of George Frideric Handel 's oratorio Israel in Egypt prepared from the original score, which he had found in London. This precipitated a Handel revival in Germany, similar to the reawakened interest in J. S. Bach following his performance of

7020-534: Was carried on when Moscheles succeeded him as head of the Conservatory. Mendelssohn first visited Britain in 1829, where Moscheles, who had already settled in London, introduced him to influential musical circles. In the summer he visited Edinburgh , where he met among others the composer John Thomson , whom he later recommended for the post of professor of music at Edinburgh University . He made ten visits to Britain, lasting altogether about 20 months; he won

7110-623: Was composed in Frankfurt in June 1836, soon after he had met his future wife. Book 3 was dedicated to Rosa von Woringen. Book 4 was dedicated to Sophia Horsley. Song No. 6 "Spring Song" was also sometimes known in England as " Camberwell Green ", being the place in London where Mendelssohn composed it while staying with the Benneckes, relatives of his wife. Book 5 was dedicated to Clara Schumann . The Spinnerlied has also been given

7200-567: Was created by a trust deed in 1871. Its trustees include the composers Anthony Payne and Justin Connolly , and the principal of the Royal Academy of Music, Jonathan Freeman-Attwood ; and its charitable objects are "For the education of musical students of both sexes in pursuance of the intentions of the founders". Recipients include the composers Frederick Corder , George Dyson , Malcolm Arnold and Kenneth Leighton . The following

7290-634: Was deeply sympathetic to his ancestors' Jewish beliefs, or that he was hostile to this and sincere in his Christian beliefs. Throughout his life Mendelssohn was wary of the more radical musical developments undertaken by some of his contemporaries. He was generally on friendly, if sometimes somewhat cool, terms with Hector Berlioz , Franz Liszt , and Giacomo Meyerbeer , but in his letters expresses his frank disapproval of their works, for example writing of Liszt that his compositions were "inferior to his playing, and […] only calculated for virtuosos"; of Berlioz's overture Les francs-juges "[T]he orchestration

7380-813: Was for a time mistakenly attributed to him after being lost and rediscovered in the 1970s. Mendelssohn enjoyed early success in Germany, and revived interest in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach , notably with his performance of the St Matthew Passion in 1829. He became well received in his travels throughout Europe as a composer, conductor and soloist; his ten visits to Britain – during which many of his major works were premiered – form an important part of his adult career. His essentially conservative musical tastes set him apart from more adventurous musical contemporaries, such as Franz Liszt , Richard Wagner , Charles-Valentin Alkan and Hector Berlioz . The Leipzig Conservatory , which he founded, became

7470-508: Was impressed and had it published in 1826 as a work of "his pupil, F****" [i.e. "Felix" (asterisks as provided in original text)]. This translation also qualified Mendelssohn to study at the University of Berlin , where from 1826 to 1829 he attended lectures on aesthetics by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel , on history by Eduard Gans , and on geography by Carl Ritter . In 1821 Zelter introduced Mendelssohn to his friend and correspondent,

7560-636: Was left with impaired health; he died in 1851. The eldest, Carl Mendelssohn Bartholdy (7 February 1838 – 23 February 1897), became a historian, and professor of history at Heidelberg and Freiburg universities; he died in a psychiatric institution in Freiburg aged 59. Paul Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1841–1880) was a noted chemist and pioneered the manufacture of aniline dye. Marie married Victor Benecke and lived in London. Lili married Adolf Wach , later professor of law at Leipzig University . The family papers inherited by Marie's and Lili's children form

7650-524: Was placed at 4 Hobart Place in Belgravia , London, in 2013. His protégé, the British composer and pianist William Sterndale Bennett , worked closely with Mendelssohn during this period, both in London and Leipzig. He first heard Bennett perform in London in 1833 aged 17. Bennett appeared with Mendelssohn in concerts in Leipzig throughout the 1836/1837 season. On Mendelssohn's eighth British visit in

7740-466: Was so upset that he immediately went to get a haircut to differentiate himself. In particular, Mendelssohn seems to have regarded Paris and its music with the greatest of suspicion and an almost puritanical distaste. Attempts made during his visit there to interest him in Saint-Simonianism ended in embarrassing scenes. It is significant that the only musician with whom Mendelssohn remained

7830-586: Was the premiere of his oratorio Paulus , (the English version of this is known as St. Paul ), given at the Lower Rhenish Festival in Düsseldorf in 1836, shortly after the death of the composer's father, which affected him greatly; Felix wrote that he would "never cease to endeavour to gain his approval ... although I can no longer enjoy it". St. Paul seemed to many of Mendelssohn's contemporaries to be his finest work, and sealed his European reputation. When Friedrich Wilhelm IV came to

7920-457: Was the prime mover in proposing to the publisher Heinrich Brockhaus a complete edition of Moses' works, which continued with the support of his uncle, Joseph Mendelssohn . Felix was notably reluctant, either in his letters or conversation, to comment on his innermost beliefs; his friend Devrient wrote that "[his] deep convictions were never uttered in intercourse with the world; only in rare and intimate moments did they ever appear, and then only in

8010-581: Was the renowned Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn , but Felix was initially raised without religion until he was baptised aged seven into the Reformed Christian church. He was recognised early as a musical prodigy , but his parents were cautious and did not seek to capitalise on his talent. His sister Fanny Mendelssohn received a similar musical education and was a talented composer and pianist in her own right; some of her early songs were published under her brother's name and her Easter Sonata

8100-694: Was the soloist in Beethoven 's Piano Concerto No. 4 and conducted his own Scottish Symphony with the Philharmonic Orchestra before the Queen and Prince Albert. Mendelssohn suffered from poor health in the final years of his life, probably aggravated by nervous problems and overwork. A final tour of England left him exhausted and ill, and the death of his sister, Fanny, on 14 May 1847, caused him further distress. Less than six months later, on 4 November, aged 38, Mendelssohn died in Leipzig after

#624375