Composer of the Month
Felix Mendelssohn |
Felix Mendelssohn was one of the best loved composers of the 19th century and he was certainly the most successful. He tried hard to do all the performances and compositions that people wanted. Overwork and exhaustion led to his early death at the age of 38.
Born February 3, 1809 in Hamburg, Germany, Felix Mendelssohn began, like Mozart, as a child prodigy. His father, Abraham, was a successful banker; his influential mother, Leah Solomon, was an amateur musician. Young Felix studied both the violin and piano and gave his first public recital at age nine. Encouraged by his family and teachers, Felix began writing music when he was 10 years old. At the age of 17, he astonished the world with a true masterpiece, his Overture to William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. By this time he had already written his twelve symphonies for string orchestra. Mendelssohn toured, guest conducted and composed constantly, and participated in endless rounds of social engagements and chamber music soirées. On March 28, 1837 he took on the additional responsibilities of family life when he married Charlotte Jeanrenaud. Mendelssohn's elder sister Fanny was also a talented composer and pianist. Her work was not publicly performed, however, because a musical career was not thought proper for women then. There had always been a close bond between the two, and when Fanny died in May 1847, Felix fell into a deep depression. Already exhausted and ill, he never recovered from Fanny's death. His own death followed a few months later. |