Great Composers Codexery

Felix Mendelssohn

German Romantic composer who revived Bach and wrote the 'Wedding March'.

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Felix Mendelssohn

via Wikipedia: Felix Mendelssohn · see source

He was baptised as a Christian at age seven but remained conscious and proud of his Jewish ancestry.[1] Mendelssohn died in Leipzig on 4 November after a series of strokes, less than six months after his sister Fanny's death on 14 May 1847.[2]

Life and work

Mendelssohn began piano lessons from his mother at age six and studied counterpoint with Carl Friedrich Zelter from at least May 1819.[3] At age 16 he wrote his String Octet in E-flat major, regarded as marking the beginning of his maturity as a composer.[4] In 1829 he arranged and conducted a performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion, which was the first performance outside Leipzig since Bach's death.[5][6] He travelled widely in the 1830s, visiting England, Vienna, Florence, Milan, Rome and Naples.[5]

Mendelssohn was appointed musical director in Düsseldorf in 1833, his first paid post as a musician.[7] He accepted the direction of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in 1835 and concentrated on developing Leipzig's musical life.[8][9] Mendelssohn married Cécile Charlotte Sophie Jeanrenaud on 28 March 1837, and they had five children.[1] In 1843 Mendelssohn established the Leipzig Conservatory, a major music school, and convinced Ignaz Moscheles and Robert Schumann to become faculty members there.[10]

What the cited sources add

The Mendelssohn Project website states that Mendelssohn produced more than 300 artworks in pencil, watercolour and oil throughout his life.[11] A Mendelssohn in Scotland website records that Mendelssohn set out on his journey to Scotland on Wednesday 22 July 1829, travelling north by stagecoach via York and Durham.[12] The same source notes that Mendelssohn sketched Durham Cathedral and later worked the sketch into a full watercolour painting in 1830.[12]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Felix Mendelssohn" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Todd 2003, p. 33 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Felix Mendelssohn" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mercer-Taylor 2000, p. 1; Sterndale Bennett 1955, p. 376; Werner 1963, p. 36–38 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Felix Mendelssohn" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Todd 2003, p. 33; Todd 2003, p. 33; Todd 2003, p. 33 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Felix Mendelssohn" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Kennedy Center notes", Kennedy-center.org, 17 February 2011 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Felix Mendelssohn" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Todd 2001, p. §2 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Felix Mendelssohn" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mercer-Taylor 2000, p. 1 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Felix Mendelssohn" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mercer-Taylor 2000, p. 1; Todd 2003, p. 33 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Felix Mendelssohn" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Todd 2001, p. §2; Todd 2003, p. 33 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Felix Mendelssohn" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Todd 2003, p. 33; Mercer-Taylor 2000, p. 1 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Felix Mendelssohn" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mercer-Taylor 2000, p. 1; Conway 2012, p. 194 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. "Visual Artwork by Felix Mendelssohn", The Mendelssohn Project website. Retrieved 3 December 2017.. facts only, no text reused. themendelssohnproject.org
  12. See "The Journey North" in Mendelssohn in Scotland website, accessed 9 January 2015.. facts only, no text reused. mendelssohninscotland.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Felix Mendelssohn (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Named in this entry

Franz LisztSymphonyChamber musicWedding March (Mendelssohn)OratorioReformed ChristianityHector BerliozAntisemitism

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Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In what year did Felix Mendelssohn die?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1847.

From the source: “Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), simply known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic era. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonies, c”

2. In what year was Felix Mendelssohn born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1809.

From the source: “Felix Mendelssohn was born on 3 February 1809, in Hamburg, at the time an independent city-state, in the same house where, a year later, the dedicatee and first performer of his Violin Concerto, Ferdinand David, would be born.”

3. In which place was Felix Mendelssohn born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Hamburg.

From the source: “Felix Mendelssohn was born on 3 February 1809, in Hamburg, at the time an independent city-state, in the same house where, a year later, the dedicatee and first performer of his Violin Concerto, Ferdinand David, would be born.”

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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