In this episode we focus on Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and his older sister Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn, two composers who grew up in the same exceptionally rich cultural environment, yet whose musical careers developed very differently.
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn received an intensive musical education, they were in close contact with the intellectual elite of their time and developed a fully individual musical voice at an early age.
Felix became a central figure in European musical life as a composer, conductor and advocate of, among others, Bach. Quickly, his music found its way into the concert halls and was widely admired during his lifetime.
Fanny, however, despite her compositional talent and sharp musical judgement, was largely confined to private settings. Her works were heard in the famous Berlin salons of the Mendelssohn family, but publication and public recognition were long discouraged, not for lack of quality, but because of her position as a woman.
The music in this episode reveals how close the artistic kinship between brother and sister was, how they closely followed and influenced one another, and how their music at times shows striking similarities.
Playlist
- Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847) – Sechs Lieder ohne Worte, Opus 61 (1844)
-I. Andante espressivo
-II. Alleghro con fuoco
-III. Andante maestoso “Trauermarsch”
-IV. Allegro con anima
-V. Aandante con moto “Venezianisches Gondellied”
-VI. Allegro “Frülingslied”
Ronald Brautigam, piano (Paul MacNulty after Pleyel 1830)
(CD label: BIS nr. SACD-1983) - Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn (1805-1847) – String Quartet in E flat major
I. Adagio ma non troppo
II. Allegretto I
II. Romanze
IV. Allegro molto vivace
Consone Quartet: Agata Daraškaitė, violin I / Magdalena Loth-Hill, violin II / Elitsa Bogdanova, viola / George Ross, cello
(CD label: Linn nr. CKD 766)
- Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy – String Symphony No. 7 in D minor
-I. Allegro
-II. Andante amorevole
-III. Menuetto
-IV. Allegro molto
Concerto Köln
(CD label: Warner Classics nr. 2564692709) - Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn – Abschied von Rom
Els Biesemans, fortepiano Pleyel 1851
(CD label: Genuin nr. 12244)
Image: Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn (source: Durlacher.de)
