MENDELSSOHN, (-Bartholdy), Felix
b Hamburg, 3 February 1809
d Leipzig, 4 November 1847, aged thirty-eight
He was the son of a Jewish banker, though he himself converted to Christianity later. His mother gave him the rudiments of music, and then he had various private teachers. His brother and two sisters were also accomplished musicians. He made his debut as a pianist in Berlin in 1818, at the age of nine, and from 1824 he also studied violin. In Paris in 1825 he won a wide circle of musical and poetic friends, and with his Octet and the Midsummer Night's Dream Overture the following year he established himself as a major composer. He also studied philosophy and geography. In 1829 he first visited Britain, going to Scotland and the Hebrides and meeting Sir Walter Scott. Afterwards he made a Grand Tour, taking in Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and France before returning to England in 1832. He next became conductor of the Lower Rhine Festival, reviving many neglected works, and in 1835 became musical director at the Leipzig Gewandhaus. He made further journeys to England in 1837 and 1840, playing and conducting, and becoming a favourite of Queen Victoria; his Scotch Symphony is dedicated to her. He became Kapellmeister in Berlin at the behest of Frederick William IV in 1841, and founded the Leipzig Conservatory in 1843. His many commitments affected his health, and after the first performance of Elijah in Birmingham he returned exhausted to Leipzig. He still continued to work, but a series of severe fits killed him.
1821 (12)
Piano Sonata No 2 in G minor
1822 (13)
Piano Quartet No 1 in C minor, Op 1
1823 (14)
Piano Quartet No 2 in F minor
Violin Sonata in F minor
1824 (15)
Piano Quartet No 3 in B minor
Symphony No 1 in C minor
1825 (16)
Wedding of the Camacho, comic opera
Trumpet Overture, for orchestra
String Octet in Eb major
Capriccio in F sharp minor for piano
1826 (17)
A Midsummer Night's Dream, overture
String Quintet in A major
Piano Sonata No 1 in E major
Six Songs (1826-7)
1827 (18)
String Quartet No 2 in A minor
Fugue in Eb major for string quartet
Piano Sonata No 3 in Bb major
p Seven Pieces for piano
1829 (2(1)
Die Heimkehr aus der Fremde, operetta
String Quartet No 1 in Eb major
Variations concertantes, for cello and piano, in D major
Three Fantasies for piano
Twelve Songs
1830 (21)
Symphony No 5, Reformation
Hebrides, concert overture
Twelve Songs
Six Songs
1831 (22)
Piano Concerto No 1 in G minor
Die erste Walpurgisnacht, for solo voices, chorus and orchestra
Song
1832 (23)
Meerstille (Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage), concert overture
Capriccio Brillant, in B minor, for piano and orchestra
Six Preludes and Fugues for piano (1832-7)
1833 (24)
Symphony No 4, Italian
Die schone Melusine, overture
Fantasy in F# minor, for piano
Three Capriccios for piano (1833-4)
1834 (25)
Rondo Brillant in Eb for piano and orchestra
p Songs Without Words, Book I for piano
Piano Sextet in D major
Three Studies for piano (1834-6)
Two Romances of Byron
Six Songs (1834-7)
Song
1835 (26)
p Songs Without Words, Book Il for piano
Two Sacred Songs
Two Songs after Eichendorff
1836 (27)
St Paul, oratorio
Etude in F minor for piano
1837 (28)
Piano Concerto No 2 in D minor
Three Organ Preludes and Fugues
Capriccio in E major for piano
Gondellied in A major, for piano
String Quartets No 4-5 in D: Em: Eb (1837-8)
Six Songs (1837-42)
1838 (29)
Serenade and Allegro Gioioso in B minor for piano and orchestra
Cello Sonata No 1 in Bb major
Piano Trio No 1 in D minor
Andante Cantabile, and Presto Agitato, in B major, for piano
1839 (30)
Ruy Blas, overture
Songs Without Words, Book III for piano
Six Songs
Song
1840 (31)
Lobegesang (Hymn of Praise), symphony-cantata (Symphony No 2)
Festgesang, for male chorus and orchestra
1841 (32)
Cornelius March
Songs Without Words, Books IV and VII for piano
Allegro Brillant, in A major for piano
Variations in B6 major
Variations in Eb major
Variations serieuses
Six Songs (1841-5)
1842 (33)
Symphony No 3, Scottish
Cello Sonata in D major (1842-3)
Songs Without Words, Book VIII, for piano (1842-5)
Kinderstiicke (Children's Pieces), for piano
1843 (34)
Athalie, incidental music
Andante in E major for string quartet
Scherzo in A minor for string quartet
Capriccio in E minor for string quartet
Songs Without Words, Books V and VI, for piano
1844 (35)
Violin Concerto in E minor
Hear My Prayer, for soprano, chorus and organ
p Six Organ Sonatas (1844 5)
1845 (36)
Piano Trio No 2 in C minor
String Quintet in Bb major
Songs Without Words, for cello and piano
1846 (37)
String Quartet No 6 in F minor
fp Elijah, oratorio
Lauda Sion, cantata
1847 (38)
Lorely, opera (unfinished)
Mendelssohn also composed:
1827-41 (27-32)
Prelude and Fugue in E minor, for piano
1827-47 (19-38)
Four Pieces for string quartet
Performed posthumously-
1852 Christus, oratorio (unfinished)