Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) was a German composer, pianist and conductor of the
romantic period. His output includes solo piano music, chamber music, symphonies,
concertos and oratorios. In his lifetime, and afterwards, Mendelssohn was ranked with
the all-time greats such as Mozart but over a period of time his musical status was
downgraded owing to changing musical tastes. Mendelssohn’s music has a refined
joyousness and his creative originality is again being being recognised and his music re-
evaluated.
Mendelssohn’s own works show his study of baroque and early classical music. His
fugues and chorales especially reflect a tonal clarity and use of counterpoint reminiscent
of J.S. Bach by whom he was deeply influenced. Mendelssohn also revived interest in
the works of Franz Schubert. His friend Schumann discovered the manuscript of
Schubert’s Great C major Symphony and sent it to Mendelssohn who premièred it in
Leipzig in 1839 more than a decade after Schubert’s death.
Throughout his life Mendelssohn was wary of the more radical musical developments
undertaken by some of his contemporaries. He was on friendly terms with Berlioz, Liszt
and Meyerbeer but in his letters expressed disapproval of their compositions. This
conservative strain in Mendelssohn, which set him apart from some of his more
flamboyant contemporaries, bred a similar condescension on their part towards his music.
In England, Mendelssohn’s reputation remained high for many years. In recent years a
new appreciation of Mendelssohn’s compositions has developed and nearly all of his
published works are now available on CD. Some of the works of his early maturity show
an intuitive grasp of form, harmony, counterpoint, colour and compositional technique,
which support claims that Mendelssohn’s precocity exceeded even that of Mozart.
Mendelssohn’s ‘Lieder ohne Wörte’ (Songs without Words’), with eight cycles each
containing six lyric pieces (two published posthumously) remain among his most loved
piano compositions. They became standard parlour items and their overwhelming
popularity caused many critics to underestimate their musical value. Other composers
who were inspired to produce similar pieces of their own included Charles-Valentin
Alkan, Anton Rubinstein, Ignaz Moscheles and Edvard Grieg.
Other piano pieces by Mendelssohn include his ‘Andante and Rondo Capriccioso’ opus
14, written when he was seventeen, his ‘Variations Sérieuses’ opus 54 (1841), ‘Seven
Characteristic Pieces’ opus 7 (1827) and the set of six ‘Preludes and Fugues’ opus 35
(1832-1836.
Mendelssohn also composed a number of piano concertos, chamber music, six sonatas for
organ, and songs for voice and piano including the well-known ‘On Wings of Song’.
MENTER
Sophie Menter was born in Munich on 29 July 1846 and died in Stockdorf, near Munich,
on 23 February 1918. She was the daughter of the cellist Joseph Menter. She was a child
prodigy who entered the Munich Conservatory before she was in her teens in order to