Felix Mendelssohn

Concerto for Two Pianos in E Major

            In addition to Mendelssohn's remarkable, broad education in the liberal arts, he and Fanny studied music, of course. Their precociousness was recognized early on.   Young Felix began piano lessons at the age of six—all four of the siblings studied piano.   The family’s wealth and social position afforded them access to Europe’s outstanding teachers and performers, and Felix and Fanny advanced with impressive abilities.   In addition to their piano studies the two siblings studied counterpoint and composition with a well-known scholar, and benefited immensely by a veritable immersion in the music of the Baroque and Classic periods, especially that of J. S.

Fingal's Cave Overture, op. 26 (Hebrides)

        Mendelssohn was a prodigy, born into a distinguished family of Jewish bankers and philosophers.  He and his sister Fanny--also a talented composer, conductor, and pianist—were raised in a warm, intellectual, highly supportive artistic family.  They matured early, and a stream of musical compositions flowed from them both.   Mendelssohn was clearly one of the most important German composers of his time, and infused the expressiveness of early romantic music with the clarity and intellectuality of Mozart and Haydn’s classicism.  This exquisite balance found expression in a wide variety of musical genres; Mendelssohn was as at home writing Protestant oratorios such as Elijah and St.

Nocturno, op. 24

            Mendelssohn was a prodigy, born into a distinguished family of Jewish bankers and philosophers.  He and his sister Fanny--also a talented composer, conductor, and pianist—were raised in a warm, intellectual, highly supportive artistic family.  In point of fact, Felix and his sister were incredibly precocious.   He was probably one of the best-educated major composers of all time.

Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, op. 21

            Mendelssohn was a prodigy, born into a distinguished family of Jewish bankers and philosophers.  He and his sister Fanny--also a talented composer, conductor, and pianist—were raised in a warm, intellectual, highly supportive artistic family.  In point of fact, Felix and his sister were incredibly precocious.   He was probably one of the best-educated major composers of all time.

Piano Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, op. 25

            The Italian trip that inspired the fourth symphony bore fruit in another significant way, for it was also the time of Mendelssohn's first mature piano concerto, finished in 1831.  Supposedly composed “hastily,” it was given its première in Munich in October of that year.  There were several quite good student works composed in that genre earlier—and in them he advanced some felicitous changes in the form of the first movement, possibly under the influence of Carl Maria von Weber.  He did away with the time-honored practice of separately giving both soloist and orchestra separate shots at the main themes, and simply telescoped that section into a tighter form.  Both the soloist and the orchestra thereby “share” the single statement of themes.  He also—in a move that reflected

Piano Concerto No. 2 in D Minor, op. 40

            Mendelssohn was a prodigy, born into a distinguished family of Jewish bankers and philosophers.  He and his sister Fanny--also a talented composer, conductor, and pianist—were raised in a warm, intellectual, highly supportive artistic family.  They matured early, and a stream of musical compositions flowed from them both.   Mendelssohn was clearly one of the most important German composers of his time, and infused the expressiveness of early romantic music with the clarity and intellectuality of Mozart and Haydn’s classicism.  This exquisite balance found expression in a wide variety of musical genres; Mendelssohn was as at home writing Protestant oratorios such as Elijah and St.

Sinfonia No. 7 in D Minor

            Mendelssohn was a prodigy, born into a distinguished family of Jewish bankers and philosophers.  He and his sister Fanny--also a talented composer, conductor, and pianist—were raised in a warm, intellectual, highly supportive artistic family.  In point of fact, Felix and his sister were incredibly precocious.   He was probably one of the best-educated major composers of all time.

Symphony No. 3, op. 56 (“Scottish”)

        Mendelssohn was a prodigy, born into a distinguished family of Jewish bankers and philosophers.  He and his sister Fanny--also a talented composer, conductor, and pianist—were raised in a warm, intellectual, highly supportive artistic family.  They matured early, and a stream of musical compositions flowed from them both.   Mendelssohn was clearly one of the most important German composers of his time, and infused the expressiveness of early romantic music with the clarity and intellectuality of Mozart and Haydn’s classicism.  This exquisite balance found expression in a wide variety of musical genres; Mendelssohn was as at home writing Protestant oratorios such as Elijah and St.

Symphony No. 4 in A Major, op. 90 (“Italian”)

          Mendelssohn was a prodigy, born into a distinguished family of Jewish bankers and philosophers.  He and his sister Fanny--also a talented composer, conductor, and pianist—were raised in a warm, intellectual, highly supportive artistic family.  They matured early, and a stream of musical compositions flowed from them both.   Mendelssohn was clearly one of the most important German composers of his time, and infused the expressiveness of early romantic music with the clarity and intellectuality of Mozart and Haydn’s classicism.  This exquisite balance found expression in a wide variety of musical genres; Mendelssohn was as at home writing Protestant oratorios such as Elijah and St.

Violin Concerto in E Minor, op. 64

            Mendelssohn wrote several concertos for both piano and for violin.   The last concerto, for violin, is one of the most important solo works of the nineteenth century.    Finished in the fall of 1844, after many years of work, the concerto is the product of a man at the height of his artistic powers.   At the time he was literally the toast of Europe, composing fervidly, visiting everywhere as guest conductor and composer, serving as music administrator of a new conservatory in Leipzig, and all the while trying to cope with the bedeviling trials of an official appointment at the Prussian court at Berlin and Potsdam.  He was literally working himself to death, and his life, indeed only lasted a few more years.