79-633: Ranke is a German surname. Persons with the surname include: Clarissa von Ranke (1808-1871), Irish poet Friedrich Heinrich Ranke (1798–1876), German theologian Heinrich von Ranke (1830–1909), German physiologist and physician Hermann Ranke (1878–1953), German Egyptologist Johannes Ranke (1836–1916), German physiologist and anthropologist Karl Ernst Ranke (1870–1926), German pathologist Karl Ferdinand Ranke (1802–1876), German educator Leopold von Ranke (1795–1886), German historian [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with
158-518: 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,
237-591: 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
316-634: A competent English translator, and sometimes translated his work herself for comparative purposes. In 1869, She welcomed the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland , sharing a hope with her brother Robert that Protestants and Catholics could co-exist peacefully. Ranke suffered with poor health for a number of years, which resulted in her developing an interest in nursing and medical issues. She met Florence Nightingale , and became involved in programmes assisting wounded soldiers. She died in Berlin on 20 April 1871, and
395-611: 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
474-686: 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
553-998: A lecturer in mathematics at University College, London , Robert Perceval Graves a founder of Alexandra College , Dublin, and the Rt Rev. Charles Graves bishop of Limerick . Ranke was educated in England and Europe, having a talent for languages, literature, and music, but poetry in particular. Following the death of her father, Ranke travelled across Europe with her mother. She met German historian Leopold Ranke in Paris in July 1843. They were engaged in London, and married in October 1843 at Bowness-on-Windermere , England. The couple had three sons, one of whom died in infancy, and one daughter. The son of her brother Charles, Alfred Perceval Graves , married her great-grand-niece Amelie Elisabeth Sophie von Ranke. Her husband
632-466: 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
711-459: 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
790-461: 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]
869-643: 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
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#1732852346988948-400: 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
1027-548: 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
1106-425: 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
1185-565: 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 ,
1264-440: Is buried at Friedhof II der Sophiengemeinde Berlin . 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
1343-510: 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,
1422-586: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles Clarissa von Ranke Clarissa "Clara" von Ranke (8 April 1808 – 30 April 1871) was an Irish poet and salon host. Clarissa von Ranke was born Clarissa Helena Graves in Dublin in 1808. She was the elder daughter of chief police magistrate of Dublin , John Crosbie Graves (1776–1835), and Helena, daughter of the Rev. Charles Perceval. The family live at 12 Fitzwilliam Square . Her brothers were John Thomas Graves
1501-505: 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
1580-697: 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
1659-574: The Brothers Grimm . The salon was viewed as conservative, but discussions on cultural exchange, nation building in Ireland and beyond, the position of women in society, as well as the role of religion in society. Ranke maintained a keen interest in Ireland, writing to her brother Robert in 1846 about the threat of an Irish famine she noted "You all eat too much in England and will in the end starve your poorer neighbours." When writing to Julia Garnett Pertz,
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#17328523469881738-623: 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
1817-588: 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
1896-597: 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
1975-407: The surname Ranke . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ranke&oldid=1022261949 " Category : Surnames Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description
2054-479: 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
2133-477: 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
2212-463: 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
2291-554: 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
2370-604: 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
2449-458: 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
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2528-402: 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
2607-553: 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
2686-498: 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
2765-582: 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
2844-438: 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
2923-410: 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
3002-420: 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
3081-414: 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
3160-435: 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
3239-496: 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
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3318-581: 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
3397-548: 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
3476-722: 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
3555-550: 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
3634-514: 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
3713-554: 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
3792-429: 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
3871-485: 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
3950-423: 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
4029-573: 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
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#17328523469884108-475: 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
4187-425: 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
4266-421: 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]
4345-460: 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
4424-419: 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
4503-450: 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
4582-401: 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
4661-553: 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
4740-463: 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
4819-630: The wife of a German historian, Ranke displays and interest in emancipation of slaves and social reform, as well as advocating for the education of women. She gave classes in English, French and Italian, as well as taking part in piano competitions with Felix Mendelssohn . Ranke was fluent in ten languages, and was knowledgeable of 20. A published poet, Ranke's poems appeared in Thomas Solly's Coronal of English verse (Berlin, 1864) and Main's Treasury of English sonnets (1880). She assisted her husband with his historical work for almost 30 years. She secured him
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#17328523469884898-622: 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
4977-603: 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
5056-452: 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
5135-598: 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 –
5214-549: 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
5293-571: 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
5372-528: 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
5451-634: 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
5530-853: 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
5609-502: 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,
5688-488: Was later ennobled and the family name became "von Ranke". The Rankes moved to Berlin after their marriage, living on Luisenstraße, hosting a wide social circle at "Salon Ranke". Their salon hosted professionals from around the world, hosting classes in literature and poetry, discussions on history and politics, and musical parties. Among the regular attendees were August Wilhelm Schlegel , Lord Francis Napier , Sir Andrew Buchanan , Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling , and
5767-631: 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
5846-514: 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
5925-458: 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
6004-576: 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
6083-457: 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
6162-573: 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
6241-675: 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
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