Mendelssohn, Felix

Mendelssohn, Felix (Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn) (mĕn`dəlsən, Ger. yä`kôp lt`vĭkh fā`lĭks mĕn`dəlszōn'), 1809–47, German composer; grandson of the Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn was one of the major figures in 19th-century music. His father, Abraham, upon conversion to Christianity, changed his surname to Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, a seldom-used form. A prodigy, reared in a highly cultured atmosphere, the young Felix presented his orchestral compositions to illustrious audiences at the family estate. His first mature work, the Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream, was composed at 17, and he showed similar precocity at the piano. In 1829, he conducted the St. Matthew Passion, stimulating a revival of interest in the music of J. S. Bach. He was musical director (1833–35) at Düsseldorf, became (1835) conductor of the Gewandhaus concerts, Leipzig, and helped found (1842–43) the Leipzig Conservatory. He was appointed (1841) director of the music section of the Academy of Arts, Berlin, and often conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra. His music is characterized by emotional restraint, refinement, sensitivity, and a fastidious adherence to classical forms. Of his five symphonies, the Scottish (1842), Italian (1833), and Reformation (1832) are best known. Frequently performed are his Violin Concerto in E Minor (1845); The Hebrides Overture or Fingal's Cave (1832); and two oratorios, St. Paul (1836) and Elijah (1846). Outstanding piano works include the Variations sérieuses (1841) and eight sets of Songs without Words (1832–45). He also composed chamber music, songs, choral music, and six organ sonatas.

Bibliography

See his letters (ed. by G. Selden-Goth, 1945); biographies by G. R. Marek (1972), W. Blunt (1974), and P. Mercer-Taylor (2000); H. Kupferberg, The Mendelssohns (1972).

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Mendelssohn (-Bartholdy), (Jakob Ludwig) Felix

Felix Mendelssohn, watercolour by James Warren Childe, 1829; in a private collection

(credit: Courtesy of Hugo von Mendelssohn)

(born Feb. 3, 1809, Hamburg—died Nov. 4, 1847, Leipzig) German composer. Grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, he grew up in a wealthy Jewish family that had converted to Protestantism. He began to compose at age 11; at 16 he wrote his first masterpiece, the String Octet in E Flat Major (1825), followed by the Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream (1826). In 1829 he conducted the first performance in 100 years of Johann Sebastian Bach's St. Matthew Passion, greatly contributing to the Bach revival. He wrote the first of a series of elegant piano works, Songs Without Words, in 1830. His Reformation (1832) and Italian (1833) symphonies date from this period. He observed Classical models and practices while initiating key aspects of Romanticism, which exalted emotions and the imagination above rigid forms and traditions. After serving as music director of the Catholic city of Düsseldorf (1833–35), he took the parallel position in Protestant Leipzig. There he built up the Gewandhaus Orchestra, making Leipzig the musical capital of Germany. In his last decade he produced great works such as the Scottish Symphony (1842), the violin concerto (1844), and the oratorio Elijah (1846). His beloved sister, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805–47), had been considered his equal in musical talent as a girl, but she was discouraged from composing until her marriage to the painter Wilhelm Hensel (1794–1861); she eventually wrote more than 500 works. Her death was a severe shock to Mendelssohn; years of overwork simultaneously caught up with him, and he died six months after her.