Felix Mendelssohn
German Romantic prodigy who revived Bach and mastered every genre
1809
1847
German
Romantic
A Midsummer Night's Dream, Violin Concerto, Songs Without Words
Early life
Felix Mendelssohn was born on 3 February 1809 in Hamburg into a wealthy and cultured Jewish-German family. His grandfather was the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, and his parents provided their children with the finest education available. Felix began composing at an astonishingly early age, producing a remarkable body of juvenilia that includes string symphonies, piano quartets, and the Octet for Strings in E-flat major (1825), composed at sixteen — a work of such maturity and exuberance that it remains one of the glories of the chamber repertoire. A year later he wrote the overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream, whose shimmering fairy music has never been surpassed.
Career and major works
In 1829 Mendelssohn organised and conducted the first performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion since the composer's death, a landmark event in the Bach revival that fundamentally changed the course of musical history. His extensive travels inspired some of his finest orchestral works: the 'Scottish' Symphony No. 3 (1842), the 'Italian' Symphony No. 4 (1833), and the Hebrides Overture (1830), inspired by his visit to Fingal's Cave on the Scottish island of Staffa. As conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra from 1835, he raised the ensemble to international pre-eminence. In 1843 he founded the Leipzig Conservatory, which became one of Europe's leading music schools, attracting students from across the continent.
Musical style and legacy
Mendelssohn's major works also include the Violin Concerto in E minor (1844), the oratorio Elijah (1846), and the collections of Songs Without Words for piano, which established a new genre of lyrical keyboard miniature. His music is characterised by Classical clarity of form, refined orchestral colour, effortless melodic invention, and a Romantic warmth that never tips into excess. His early death on 4 November 1847, at just thirty-eight, was mourned across Europe as the loss of one of the century's supreme musical talents.