(Born; Hamburg, 3 Feb 1809;
Died; Leipzig, 4 Nov 1847). German composer. Of a distinguished intellectual, artistic and
banking family in Berlin, he grew up in a privileged environment (the family converted
from Judaism to Christianity in 1816, taking the additional 'Bartholdy'). He studied the
piano with Ludwig Berger and theory and composition with Zelter, producing his first piece
in 1820; thereafter, a profusion of sonatas, concertos, string symphonies, piano quartets
and Singspiels revealed his increasing mastery of counterpoint and form. Besides family
travels and eminent visitors to his parents' salon (Humboldt, Hegel, Klingemann, A. B.
Marx, Devrient), early influences included the poetry of Goethe (whom he knew from 1821)
and the Schlegel translations of Shakespeare; these are traceable in his best music of the
period, including the exuberant String Octet op.20 and the vivid, poetic overture to A
Midsummer Night's Dream op.21. His gifts as a conductor also showed themselves early:
in 1829 he directed a pioneering performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion at the
Berlin Singakademie, promoting the modern cultivation of Bach's music.
A period of travel and
concert-giving introduced Mendelssohn to England, Scotland (1829) and Italy (1830-31);
after return visits to Paris (1831) and London (1832, 1833) he took up a conducting post
at Düsseldorf (1833-5), concentrating on Handel's oratorios. Among the chief products of
this time were The Hebrides (first performed in London,1832), the G minor Piano
Concerto, Die erste Walpurgisnacht, the Italian Symphony (1833, London) and St
Paul (1836, Düsseldorf). But as a conductor and music organizer his most
significant achievement was in Leipzig (1835-47), where to great acclaim he conducted the
Gewandhaus Orchestra, championing both historical and modern works (Bach, Beethoven,
Weber, Schumann, Berlioz), and founded and directed the Leipzig Conservatory (1843).
Composing mostly in the summer
holidays, he produced Ruy Blas overture, a revised version of the Hymn of Praise,
the Scottish Symphony, the now famous Violin Concerto op.64 and the fine Piano Trio in C
minor (1845). Meanwhile, he was intermittently (and less happily) employed by the king as
a composer and choirmaster in Berlin, where he wrote highly successful incidental music,
notably for A Midsummer Night's Dream (1843). Much sought after as a festival
organizer, he was associated especially with the Lower Rhine and Birmingham music
festivals; he paid ten visits to England, the last two (1846-7) to conduct Elijah
in Birmingham and London. Always a warm friend and valued colleague, he was devoted to his
family; his death at the age of 38, after a series of strokes, was mourned
With its emphasis on clarity
and adherence to classical ideals, Mendelssohn's music shows alike the influences of Bach
(fugal technique), Handel (rhythms, harmonic progressions), Mozart (dramatic
characterization, forms, textures) and Beethoven (instrumental technique), though from
1825 he developed a characteristic style of his own, often underpinned by a literary,
artistic, historical, geographical or emotional connection; indeed it was chiefly in his
skilful use of extra-musical stimuli that he was a Romantic. His early and prodigious
operatic gifts, clearly reliant on Mozart, failed to develop (despite his long search for
suitable subjects), but his penchant for the dramatic found expression in the oratorios as
well as in Ruy Blas overture, his Antigone incidental music and above all
the enduring Midsummer Night's Dream music, in which themes from the overture are
cleverly adapted as motifs in the incidental music. The oratorios, among the most popular
works of their kind, draw inspiration from Bach and Handel and content from the composer's
personal experience, St Paul being an allegory of Mendelssohn's own family history
and Elijah of his years of dissension in Berlin. Among his other vocal works, the
highly dramatic Die erste Walpurgisnacht op.60 (on Goethe's poem greeting
springtime) and the Leipzig psalm settings deserve special mention; the choral songs and
lieder are uneven, reflecting their wide variety of social functions.
After an apprenticeship of
string symphony writing in a classical mould, Mendelssohn found inspiration in art, nature
and history for his orchestral music. The energy, clarity and tunefulness of the Italian
have made it his most popular symphony, although the elegiac Scottish represents a newer,
more purposeful achievement. In his best overtures, essentially one-movement symphonic
poems, the sea appears as a recurring image, from Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage
and The Hebrides to The Lovely Melusine. Less dependent on programmatic elements
and at the same time formally innovatory, the concertos, notably that for violin, and the
chamber music, especially some of the string quartets, the Octet and the two late piano
trios, beautifully reconcile classical principles with personal feeling; these are among
his most striking compositions. Of the solo instrumental works, the partly lyric, partly
virtuoso Lieder ohne Worte for piano (from1829) are elegantly written and often
Dramatic music: incidental music for 6 plays, including Antigone (1841), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1843), Athalie (1845); opera; 5 Singspiels.
Choral music: St Paul, oratorio (1836); Elijah, oratorio (1846); Circa;30 psalms, sacred cantatas, larger sacred works; over 30 motets, anthems, shorter sacred works; 6 secular cantatas, incl. Die erste Walpurgisnacht (1832); over 60 choral songs.
Vocal music: 6 concert arias; over 70 songs; 12 duets.
Orchestral music: 13 str sinfonias; Sym. no.1, c (1824); Sym. no.2, 'Hymn of Praise', BFlat; (1840); Sym. no.3,'Scottish', a (1842); Sym. no.4 'Italian', A (1833); Sym. no.5, 'Reformation', D
(1830); A Midsummer Night's Dream, ov. (1826); Calm sea and Prosperous voyage, ov. (1828);
The Hebrides, ov. (1830); The Lovely Melusine, ov. (1833); Ruy Blas, ov. (1839); Pf Conc.
no.1, g (1831); Pf Conc. no.2, d (1837); Vn Conc., e (1844); other orch movements.
Chamber music: Octet, strs, op.20, EFlat; (1825); 2 str qnts (op.18, A, 1826; op. 87, BFlat;, 1845); 6 str qts (op.12, EFlat;, 1829, op.13, a, 1827; op.44 nos.1-3, D, e, EFlat;, 1837-8; op.80, f, 1847); 3 pf qts; 2 pf trios (op.49, d, 1839; op.66, c, 1845); 2 vn sonatas; 2 vc sonatas;
Piano music: Lieder ohne worse (8 sets) (1829-45); variations sérieuses op.54 (1841); sonatas, fugues, fantasias.
Other works: org
preludes and fugues, sonatas; Circa;60 canons; transcrs. and arrs. of Bach, Handel,
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