List of major works of Felix Mendelssohn. Felix Mendelssohn: biography The beginning of a conductor's career
R. Schumann
“So happy and rich in talents, surrounded by love and admiration, and yet so strong-willed and in heart, he never loosened the reins of religious self-discipline, never overstepped the bounds of modesty and humility, never ceased to be guided by a sense of duty. The earth did not deny him any of its joys, heaven rewarded him with all the gifts for a rich spiritual life. Compared with such an abundance of peaceful joys, what importance could have hours of bad humor, days of sadness or mournful dissatisfaction with the false honors that were paid to him! Sudden death among the works he had just begun and far-reaching projects, which saved him from fears and worldly vanities, completed this brilliant life of a truly happy person who bestowed happiness on others. Edward Devrient
The son of a successful banker, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (the second surname was registered after the conversion of the entire Mendelssohn family to Christianity) is naturally gifted with various talents. Everything was easy for him - music, languages, drawing, swimming, horseback riding. He could become whoever he wanted - a pianist, conductor, composer, artist, writer, philologist. Mendelssohn's epistolary legacy, his diaries and musical-critical essays, as well as many lyrical poems testify to his undoubted literary gift. It is known that Mendelssohn enthusiastically translated Terentius and sonnets from Dante's "New Life". The talent of a draftsman from nature successfully developed in parallel with other activities: he always had sketchbooks and an old box of paints next to the philharmonic inkwell and pen. The watercolor landscapes and pencil sketches of Mendelssohn are full of grace and miraculously recreate the poetic mood.
And yet the main, musical path was determined from adolescence. At the age of 13, Mendelssohn was the author a large number compositions for choir, concertos, operas, symphonies and chamber-instrumental compositions. Ignaz Moscheles, the “king of pianists”, who visited the Mendelssohn’s house, wrote in his diary: “... Felix is a phenomenon that cannot be found anywhere else. And what are geeks next to him? Only geeks, nothing more. This Felix Mendelssohn is already a mature artist, and yet he is only fifteen years old.
At the age of 17, Mendelssohn created his famous overture to Shakespeare's comedy A Dream in midsummer night”, About which Robert Schumann enthusiastically commented: “The color of youth is poured in it, as, perhaps, in no other work of the composer. A mature master in a happy moment made his first mighty takeoff. At the age of 20, Mendelssohn achieved a public performance in Berlin of the monumental "Matthew Passion" by Bach, and in fact, a hundred years later, he revealed to his contemporaries the work of the great cantor of the church of St. Thomas.
In 1835, Mendelssohn, who already had sufficient experience as a conductor, took charge of the orchestra of the Leipzig Gewandhaus and a short time turns it into one of the best teams in Germany. Finally, in 1843, he organized the first conservatory in the country, finding universal support in this undertaking. The rich, multifaceted activity of Mendelssohn - conductor, teacher, educator - was organically combined with own creativity. From his pen, one after another, works of different genres were born, but equally perfect in craftsmanship. Living in the heyday of romantic art, the composer remained an adherent of classical traditions. His idols were Mozart and Beethoven, Bach, Handel and composers of the pre-Bach centuries. Clarity, harmony, balance reigned in his music, so unusual in the turbulent era of the overthrow of the canons of the past. He was far from romantic pathos, theatrical pathos and exaggerated gloomy passions. And at the same time, Mendelssohn's music captivates with spiritual openness, generous melody and natural intonation development.
Mendelssohn's passion for biblical and gospel stories and, accordingly, the genres of sacred music was embodied in the large-scale oratorios "Ilya" and "Paul", where love for tradition was combined with sharp feeling new.
Mendelssohn is the creator of a new genre of romantic concert overture, written on a specific plot (taken from literature, painting or inspired by pictures of nature). The first brilliant experience - the overture "A Midsummer Night's Dream" - over the years has replenished with such no less bright writings, like "Fingal's Cave", "Sea Silence and Happy Swimming", "Beautiful Melusina", etc. Following Franz Schubert, Mendelssohn developed the genre of lyrical-dramatic romantic symphony based on song themes ("Scottish" and "Italian" symphonies) . At the same time, the composer interpreted programming in his own way - more generally. Unlike Berlioz or Liszt, he did not preface his works with extensive prefaces, but only limited himself to brief headings. Widely popular among performers, the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, and today capable of conquering even the most demanding music lover with its genuine freshness, was perhaps the first example of a romantic concerto. Finally, the piano cycle “Songs without Words” is yet another discovery of a new genre by Mendelssohn, and to this day has no equal in its rare combination of the highest professionalism and accessibility to the most inexperienced ear in music.
Creative energy did not fade until the last days of Mendelssohn's earthly life. He was full of new ideas - he conceived the oratorio "Christ" and an opera based on the plot of the legends about Lorelei.
After the untimely death of Mendelssohn, his close friend, the singer Eduard Devrient, left in his memoirs such a very remarkable entry: “So happy and rich in talents, surrounded by love and admiration, and at the same time so strong in spirit and heart, he never loosened the reins of religious self-discipline, never did not transgress the boundaries of modesty and humility, never ceased to be guided by a sense of duty. The earth did not deny him any of its joys, heaven rewarded him with all the gifts for a rich spiritual life. Compared with such an abundance of peaceful joys, what importance could have hours of bad humor, days of sadness or mournful dissatisfaction with the false honors that were paid to him! A sudden death among the works he had just begun and far-reaching projects, which saved him from fears and worldly vanities, completed this brilliant life of a truly happy person who bestowed happiness on others.
"This is the Mozart of the nineteenth century, the brightest musical talent, who most clearly comprehends the contradictions of the era and best of all reconciles them."
R. Schumann
F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy — German composer Schumann's generation, conductor, teacher, pianist, musical educator. His varied activity was subordinated to the most noble and serious goals - it contributed to the rise of the musical life of Germany, the strengthening of its national traditions, the education of an enlightened public and educated professionals. Mendelssohn was born into a family with longstanding cultural traditions. The grandfather of the future composer is a famous philosopher; father - the head of the banking house, an enlightened man, a fine connoisseur of the arts - gave his son an excellent education. In 1811, the family moved to Berlin, where Mendelssohn took lessons from the most respected teachers - L. Berger (piano), K. Zelter (composition). G. Heine, F. Hegel, T. A. Hoffmann, the Humboldt brothers, K. M. Weber visited the Mendelssohn house. J. W. Goethe listened to the game of the twelve-year-old pianist. Meetings with the great poet in Weimar remained the most beautiful memories of my youth.
Communication with serious artists, various musical impressions, attending lectures at the University of Berlin, the highly enlightened environment in which Mendelssohn grew up - all contributed to his rapid professional and spiritual development. From the age of 9, Mendelssohn has been performing on the concert stage, in the early 20s. his first writings appear. Already in his youth, Mendelssohn's educational activities began. The performance under his direction of J. S. Bach's Matthew Passion (1829) became historical event in the musical life of Germany, served as an impetus for the revival of Bach's work. In 1833-36. Mendelssohn holds the post of music director in Düsseldorf. The desire to raise the level of performance, to replenish the repertoire with classical works (oratorios by G. F. Handel and I. Haydn, operas by W. A. Mozart, L. Cherubini) ran into the indifference of the city authorities, the inertness of the German burghers.
Mendelssohn's activity in Leipzig (since 1836) as a conductor of the Gewandhaus orchestra contributed to a new flourishing of the musical life of the city, already in the 18th century. famous for its cultural traditions. Mendelssohn sought to draw the attention of listeners to the greatest works art of the past (oratorios by Bach, Handel, Haydn, Solemn Mass and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony). Educational goals were also pursued by a cycle of historical concerts - a kind of panorama of the development of music from Bach to contemporary composers Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn gives concerts in Leipzig piano music, performs organ works Bach in the Church of St. Thomas, where the "great cantor" served 100 years ago. In 1843, on the initiative of Mendelssohn, the first conservatory in Germany was opened in Leipzig, on the model of which conservatories were created in other German cities. In the Leipzig years, Mendelssohn's work reached its highest flowering, maturity, mastery (Violin Concerto, Scottish Symphony, music for Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the last notebooks of Songs without Words, oratorio Elijah, etc.). Constant tension, the intensity of performing and teaching activities gradually undermined the strength of the composer. Severe overwork, the loss of loved ones (the sudden death of Fanny's sister) brought death closer. Mendelssohn died at the age of 38.
Mendelssohn was attracted by various genres and forms, performing means. With equal skill he wrote for symphony orchestra and piano, choir and organ, chamber ensemble and voice, revealing the true versatility of talent, the highest professionalism. At the beginning creative way, at the age of 17, Mendelssohn created the Midsummer Night's Dream overture - a work that struck his contemporaries with the organic conception and embodiment, the maturity of composer's technique and the freshness and richness of imagination. “The blossoming of youth is felt here, as, perhaps, in no other work of the composer, the finished master made his first takeoff in a happy moment.” In the one-movement program overture, inspired by Shakespeare's comedy, the boundaries of the composer's musical and poetic world were defined. This is light fantasy with a touch of scherzo, flight, bizarre play (fantastic dances of elves); lyrical images that combine romantic enthusiasm, excitement and clarity, nobility of expression; folk-genre and pictorial, epic images. The genre of the concerto created by Mendelssohn program overture developed into the symphony music of the 19th V. (G. Berlioz, F. Liszt, M. Glinka, P. Tchaikovsky). In the early 40s. Mendelssohn returned to Shakespearean comedy and wrote music for the play. Best numbers amounted to orchestral suite, firmly established in the concert repertoire (Overture, Scherzo, Intermezzo, Nocturne, Wedding March).
The content of many of Mendelssohn's works is connected with direct life impressions from travels to Italy (sunny, permeated with southern light and warmth "Italian Symphony" - 1833), as well as to the northern countries - England and Scotland (images of the sea element, the northern epic in the overtures "Fingal's Cave ”(“The Hebrides”), “Sea Silence and Happy Sailing” (both 1832), in the “Scottish” Symphony (1830-42).
basis piano creativity Mendelssohn composed "Songs without Words" (48 pieces, 1830-45) - wonderful examples of lyrical miniature, a new genre of romantic piano music. In contrast to the spectacular bravura pianism that was widespread at that time, Mendelssohn created pieces in a chamber style, revealing above all the cantilena, melodious possibilities of the instrument. The composer was also attracted by the elements of concert playing - virtuoso brilliance, festivity, elation corresponded to his artistic nature (2 concertos for piano and orchestra, Brilliant Capriccio, Brilliant Rondo, etc.). The famous Violin Concerto in E minor (1844) entered the classical fund of the genre along with concertos by P. Tchaikovsky, I. Brahms, A. Glazunov, J. Sibelius. The oratorios "Paul", "Elijah", the cantata "The First Walpurgis Night" (according to Goethe) made a significant contribution to the history of cantata-oratorio genres. Development of primordial traditions German music continued Mendelssohn's preludes and fugues for organ.
The composer intended many choral works for amateur choral societies in Berlin, Düsseldorf and Leipzig; and chamber compositions (songs, vocal and instrumental ensembles) - for amateur, home music-making, extremely popular in Germany at all times. The creation of such music, addressed to enlightened amateurs, and not only to professionals, contributed to the implementation of Mendelssohn's main creative goal - educating the tastes of the public, actively introducing it to a serious, highly artistic heritage.
“People often complain that the music is too ambiguous, they have to think when they listen, it's so incomprehensible, at the same time everyone understands the words. With me it happens exactly the opposite, and not only in relation to the whole speech, but also to individual words.
Felix Mendelssohn
Jacob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was born in Hamburg on February 3, 1809 in the family of the banker Abraham, who was the son of the famous Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, and Leah Solomon. The parents sought to abandon Judaism, their children received no religious education and were baptized in the Lutheran church in 1816.
The surname Bartholdi was added at the suggestion of Leah's brother, Jacob. Abraham later explained this decision in a letter to Felix as a means of showing a decisive break with the traditions of his father Moses. Although Felix, as a sign of obedience to his father, signed Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, he nevertheless did not mind using only the first part of the surname.
The family moved to Berlin in 1811. The parents sought to give Felix, his brother Paul and sisters Fanny and Rebecca the best possible education. The elder sister, Fanny, became a famous pianist and amateur composer. Initially, her father thought she was more musically gifted, but did not see a career in music as suitable for a young girl.
At the age of 6, Felix Mendelssohn began to receive from his mother, and from the age of seven he studied with Marie Bigot in Paris. From 1817 he studied composition with Carl Friedrich Zelter. At the age of 9 he made his debut when he took part in a chamber concert in Berlin.
Zelter introduced Felix to his friend Goethe, who later shared his impressions of young talent, giving a comparison with Mozart:
“Musical miracles… are probably not so rare anymore; but what this little man is able to do, playing improvisation or from sight, is on the verge of magic. I can't believe this is possible at such an early age."
"Yet you heard Mozart in his seventh year in Frankfurt?" Zelter said. "Yes," replied Goethe, "... but what your student has already achieved has the same relation to the Mozart of the time that the cultured conversation of adults has to the babble of a child"
Later, Felix repeatedly met with and set to music many of his poems.
Years of study
Since 1819, Mendelssohn began to compose music non-stop. Mendelssohn was admitted to the Berlin Choir Academy in 1819. From that moment on, he composed non-stop.
I must say that Felix was a very fruitful composer from childhood. The first edition of his works was published in 1822, when young composer was only 13 years old. And at the age of 15 he wrote his first symphony for orchestra in C minor (Op. 11). A year later - a work that showed the full force of his genius - Octet in E flat major (Op.20). This Octet and the 1826 Midsummer Night's Dream Overture (of which the Wedding March was a part) are the most famous early works composer.
In 1824, Mendelssohn began taking lessons from the composer and virtuoso pianist Ignaz Moscheles, who once admitted that he had little to teach Felix. Moscheles became Mendelssohn's colleague and lifelong friend.
In addition to music, Mendelssohn's education included art, literature, languages and philosophy. For his mentor, Heise translated Terence's Andria in 1825. The teacher was amazed and published it as the work of "his student F****". This translation became Mendelssohn's qualifying work for the right to study at the University of Berlin, where he attended lectures on the aesthetics of Georg Hegel, on the history of Eduard Hans and on the geography of Karl Ritter.
Beginning of a conductor's career
Mendelssohn's office in Leipzig At the Choir Academy in Berlin, Mendelssohn became a conductor, and, with the support of the director of the academy Selter, as well as with the help of his friend Eduard Devrint, he was able to stage the Matthew Passion in 1829. The success of this work marked the beginning of a revival of Bach's music in Germany and later throughout Europe.
In the same year, Felix visited Great Britain for the first time, where he held a concert of the Philharmonic Society. By that time, his friend, Moscheles, was already living in London. He introduced Mendelssohn to influential musical circles. After the capital program, the composer traveled through Scotland, where he made sketches of the overtures, which later gained great fame - "The Hebrides" and "Fingal's Cave".
After returning to Germany, he was offered a teaching position at the University of Berlin, but Mendelssohn turned it down. For several years, the composer traveled around Europe, where he wrote a number of works, and in 1832 he published the first book of Songs Without Words. 
March 28, 1837 Mendelssohn married Cécile Jeanrenot (daughter of a Protestant clergyman)
In 1833, Felix Mendelssohn became the conductor of the Rhine Music Festival in Düsseldorf, where he presented his works every year. And two years later he began an active conductor's activity in Leipzig, setting himself the goal of making it a musical center of European scale.
The next year, in 1836, the composer received an honorary doctorate from the University of Leipzig. In the same year he met Cecile Jeanrenot, the daughter of a Protestant clergyman. On March 28, 1837, their wedding took place. The marriage was happy and the couple had five children.
At the peak of popularity
The King of Prussia did not stop trying to lure the composer to Berlin, as a result, Mendelssohn was appointed musical director of the Academy of Arts. Until 1845 he worked intermittently in Berlin without leaving his post in Leipzig. At times he made trips to England, performing his work in London and Birmingham, where he met with Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert. The royal couple were admirers of his music.
In 1843, Felix Mendelssohn founded the Leipzig Conservatory of Music, the first educational institution of its kind in Germany, thus fulfilling his dream of making Leipzig a musical center on the country's map.
The creative path of Mendelssohn and the biography of the outstanding composer, author of the "Wedding March", pianist, vocalist, teacher and conductor.
Felix Mendelssohn short biography
Jacob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was born on February 3, 1809 in Hamburg, in the family of a banker. His parents abandoned Judaism and had their children baptized in 1816 in a Lutheran church. In 1811 the family moved to Berlin, as they wanted to give their offspring the best possible education. When Felix Mendelssohn was 6 years old, he began to study the piano with his mother, and a year later with Marie Bigot. At the age of 9, the boy already took part in the Berlin chamber concert. IN youth the composer often met with the philosopher Goethe and set many of his poems to music.
From 1819 he began to compose musical works endless. In the same year he was admitted to the Berlin Choir Academy. In 1822, the first edition of the works saw the light. At that moment, the genius was 13 years old. At the age of 15 he wrote his first symphony for an orchestra in C minor. A year later, a work was published that showed his full power of genius - Octet in E-flat major, which became the earliest known work of the author.
In 1824, Felix began studying with the virtuoso pianist and composer Ignaz Moscheles, with whom they became lifelong friends. In addition to music, he studied literature, fine arts, philosophy and languages. The composer studied at the University of Berlin, studying lectures on the history of Eduard Hans, on the aesthetics of Georg Hegel, on the geography of Karl Ritter.
While still at the Choir Academy, Felix mastered the profession of a conductor and, with the support of Selter, director of the academy, and friend Eduard Devrint, staged the Matthew Passion (Johann Bach) in 1829. In fact, Mendelssohn contributed to the revival of Bach's music in Germany, which spread throughout Europe.
Felix Mendelssohn visits Great Britain in 1829. Here he holds a concert of the Philharmonic Society. After the UK, he visits Scotland, where, inspired by nature and people, he sketches new works.
When the composer Felix Mendelssohn returned to Germany, he received a teaching position at the University of Berlin. But he refused the tempting offer. The author of brilliant works traveled around Europe for many years, where he published his first book, Songs Without Words, in 1832.
In 1833 he was appointed conductor of the Rhine Music Festival in Düsseldorf. After 2 years, Felix Mendelssohn began conducting activities in Leipzig. He set himself the goal of making this city a European musical center on a world scale.
In 1836 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Leipzig. The works of Felix Mendelssohn so impressed the King of Prussia that he repeatedly tried to lure the composer to Berlin. Finally he succeeded and Mendelssohn was appointed musical director of the Academy of Arts. In this position, he worked until 1845, while not leaving work in Leipzig. From time to time, Felix visited England and Birmingham, where he personally met Queen Victoria and her family.
Felix Mendelssohn founded the Leipzig Music Conservatory in 1843. It was the first educational institution of its kind in Germany. A year later, the composer held 5 philharmonic concerts in London.
The composer's health gradually began to deteriorate. He was especially shocked by the death of his sister Fanny. In order to improve his health, he decided to go to Switzerland, but this did not help. Returning back to Leipzig, at the age of 38, Felix Mendelssohn died on November 4, 1847.
Felix Mendelssohn musical works - Octet in E flat major, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Wedding March, Fingal's Cave, Hebrides, Scottish Symphony, Violin Concerto, F minor quartet.
- Mendelssohn's father was Abraham, son of the Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn and Leah Solomon. The surname Bartholdi was added to him in order to completely break the religious traditions of Moses. The composer signed Mendelssohn-Bartholdy as a sign of obedience to his father, but often used only the first part of the surname.
- Felix Mendelssohn on March 28, 1837 married the daughter of a Protestant clergyman, Cecile Jeanrenot. The couple had 5 children.
- « Wedding March" Mendelssohn became popular only after his death. It was performed in 1858 at the wedding of the English princess Victoria Adelgeida and the future Prussian king Frederick III.
- Enemy of Felix Mendelssohn, composer
FELIX MENDELSONG
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: AQUARIUS
NATIONALITY: GERMAN
MUSICAL STYLE: ROMANTISM
SIGNIFICANT WORK: "WEDDING MARCH" FROM MUSIC FOR THE COMEDY "A MID-SUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM" (1842)
WHERE YOU HAVE HEARD THIS MUSIC: AS THE FINAL PART OF A LONG NUMBER OF WEDDING CEREMONIES
WISE WORDS: “SINCE I MAKE MUSIC, I STRONGLY STAND FOR THE RULE THAT I SET FOR MYSELF FROM THE BEGINNING: DO NOT WRITE A SINGLE LINE TO PLEASE THE PUBLIC OR A PRETTY GIRL WANTING TO HEAR ANYTHING AND TO TO; BUT WRITE ONLY AT MY OWN DISCRETION AND FOR MY PERSONAL PLEASURE.
Felix Mendelssohn began composing music as a child, at the age of thirteen he published his first piano quartet. Dashing trouble began, publications continued: symphonies, concertos, songs for piano and voice - the legacy of the composer is striking in its vastness.
Unless not all songs are written by Mendelssohn. Among the works of the composer were the works of his sister Fanny. That was the only way to reveal her compositions to the world - by attributing to them the authorship of her brother.
With the Mendelssohns, it's always like this: you think you see one person, but in fact there are two of them. Felix moved in society, traveled around Europe; Fanny stayed at home and ran the household. Felix conducted the best orchestras, Fanny was forced to be content with amateur quartets. Felix became an international superstar, no one had heard of Fanny. But, despite all the differences, the life of a brother was inseparable from the life of a sister - and so on until death.
WHAT IS IN YOUR NAME?
The Mendelssohns were proud of their descent from the eminent German thinker and Jewish philosopher of the eighteenth century, Moses (Moses) Mendelssohn. The son of Moses - Abraham - became a successful banker, but did not change his father's precepts: education and intellectual achievements were highly valued in the family.
However, with his father's faith, Abraham acted differently. All four of his children were baptized, and Abraham himself and his wife Lea converted to Lutheranism in 1822. By changing their religion, they hoped to secure their children and make life easier for them, since prejudice against the Jews was ubiquitous, and discrimination - if not outright persecution - was a widespread practice. Abraham not only chose a more "prosperous" faith, but also corrected his surname: he began to be called Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, borrowing "Bartholdy" from the former owners of the property he had acquired. Abraham undoubtedly counted on the fact that in time the Jewish Mendelssohn would disappear by itself. (His children did not like the double surname, but used it out of respect for their father.)
The first three Mendelssohn children were born in Hamburg (Fanny in 1805, Felix in 1809, Rebekah in 1811), but in 1811 the family fled the city to escape the Napoleonic army. They settled in Berlin, where the fourth child, Paul, was born.
TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE
Both Fanny and Felix began taking piano lessons at the age of six; being four years older than her brother, Fanny was at first in the lead, and everyone was talking about her extraordinary talent. However, Felix soon caught up with his sister, the audience was amazed at his excellent technique and emotional expressiveness of performance. The joint training of brother and sister ended once and for all when Fanny turned fifteen and she was told that from now on she must take care of what is really important for a girl, that is, prepare for the role of wife and mother. “Perhaps music will become his [Felix] profession, while for you it can and should remain only a lovely trifle,” Abraham wrote to his daughter.
In 1825, Abraham took Felix to Paris to meet the famous French musicians. In Fanny's letters, one sees envy for his brother, for his abilities, envy that Felix seemed not to notice - or refused to notice. When he criticized the Parisian musicians and Fanny responded with indignation, Felix snapped: “Which of us is in Paris, you or me? So maybe I should know better."
Felix was not even twenty when he plunged headlong into musical creativity. In the summer of 1826, the premiere of one of his works, which has not lost popularity to this day, took place - the overture to Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream. An attempt to write an opera was far less successful. Camacho's Wedding failed miserably. The wounded Mendelssohn no longer took up the opera.
However, in 1827 and 1830 he published two collections of songs. Three songs in each collection were written by his sister - publication under her name would be considered extremely indecent.
After studying for two years at the University of Berlin, Felix felt ready for the career destined for him by fate - the career of a virtuoso pianist and a talented composer. He went to London, where in May 1829 his Symphony in C minor was first performed, enthusiastically received by the public.
His sister meanwhile fulfilled her destiny by getting married. For Fanny and her fiancé, the artist Wilhelm Hansel, the path to the crown was long and difficult; they fell in love in 1823, but Abraham and Lea resisted the marriage because of Hansel's unstable income. The lovers waited for parental blessing until Hansel got a place at the Academy of Fine Arts.
Fanny's fears that marriage would deprive her of any opportunity to compose music were dispelled the very next day after the wedding, when Hansel seated his young wife at the piano and placed a blank sheet of music in front of her. Of course, household chores took up a lot of her time. In 1830, Fanny gave birth to a son named Sebastian Ludwig Felix, after her three most beloved composers. All other pregnancies ended in miscarriages. Nevertheless, Fanny, with the support of Hansel, set up a music salon in her house, organized a small choir, and studied composition at every opportunity.
FAMILY GUARDIAN
Felix turned into a celebrity, shining in European concert halls. However, in 1833 his professional pride was dealt a blow when the Berlin Vocal Academy did not want to see Mendelssohn as their new director, preferring Karl Friedrich Rungenhagen to him. In fact, Felix was superior to Rungenhagen in every way - not to mention talent - and, according to persistent rumors, Felix was rejected because of his Jewish origin. Then Felix concentrated his efforts on the Cologne Music Festival and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, music director whom he was appointed in 1835.
In the same year, Abraham died suddenly from a blow. Shocked, Felix took the death of his father as a command from above to finally put an end to the irresponsibility of youth and take on the duties of an adult mature man. Determined to marry, he began to look for a bride, and in March 1837 he was married to nineteen-year-old Cecilia Jeanrenot. Cecilia was from Frankfurt, and although Felix's relatives never fell in love with his wife, the Mendelssohns had five children, and everyone who knew this couple unanimously testifies to the love and devotion of both spouses.
Settled Felix took on another responsibility - to keep the family foundations of the Mendelssohns. When the family started talking about whether Fanny should publish his works, Felix bluntly spoke out against this idea. Fanny, he declared, "respects herself too much as a woman" to become a professional composer. "The main thing for her is the house, and she does not think about the public, nor about the musical world, nor even about music itself, until she satisfies the urgent needs of her family."
And yet, in the 1840s, Fanny expanded the boundaries of her activities. The year 1840 was spent almost entirely in Italy, where Fanny's work found admiring admirers. Returning to Berlin, she began to compose with redoubled energy and in 1846, against the wishes of her brother, began to look for publishers. The search was soon successful: seven collections of songs were published one after another.
FELIX MENDELSOSON BECAME A FAMOUS COMPOSER WHILE HIS EQUALLY GIVEN SISTER WERE IN OBLIGATION.
The life of a touring conductor exhausted Felix. He complained about the exorbitant workload, missed his wife and children on the road. And if Fanny's world expanded, Felix dreamed of narrowing his world.
DEATH FOR TWO
On May 14, 1847, Fanny rehearsed with an amateur chamber orchestra Sunday performance, they were to play Felix's Walpurgis Night. Fanny sat down at the piano, and suddenly her hands felt cold. This has happened before - and quickly passed; so, trifles, slight malaise. She went into the next room to moisten her hands with warm vinegar; listening to the music, she dropped: “How beautiful!” - and lost her senses. She died that evening without regaining consciousness, apparently due to a stroke.
When Felix was informed of his sister's death, he collapsed into a deep faint. Felix could not bring himself to go to Berlin for the funeral. That summer, friends found him "older and sadder." On October 28, Felix spoke excitedly in English, Cecile called a doctor, and he found that the composer had had a stroke. Felix now came to himself, then fell into oblivion; one day he got up and yelled piercingly. He died on November 4 and was buried in the Berlin cemetery next to Fanny - less than six months after her death.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, Felix's work was subjected to severe revision, especially in Germany. Although he professed Christianity all his life, the Germans stubbornly considered him a Jew. Wagner set the tone; according to him, this composer “never managed to touch our hearts and souls, to evoke in us that deep feeling that we expect from art,” solely because of his Jewish origin. Under the Nazis, Mendelssohn was erased from the history of German music. Monument to Felix, standing in front of the Leipzig concert hall demolished and sold for scrap. But at the end of the Second World War, both in Europe and in America, Mendelssohn's music again conquered the public, and today he is confidently placed in the forefront of musical geniuses.
Fanny had nothing to lose, since she did not acquire any professional reputation during her lifetime. A handful of her publications were forgotten, and if she herself was remembered, it was only in connection with Felix - they say, the composer had such a sister. Interest in it revived in the 1960s, when feminist trends began to penetrate into musicology. Today, her works are reprinted, although the opinions of critics remain controversial: some see the musician as no less brilliant than her brother, others see a talent that has not received proper development, and still others consider Fanny Mendelssohn to be uninventive and even an ordinary composer.
I AM NOT ME, BUT MY SISTER
Mendelssohn gave concerts in England more than once, and in the end he was introduced to Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert. The prince, a German by nationality, and the queen who adored music, the composer fell, as they say, to the court, and soon they began to invite him to family musical evenings at Buckingham Palace.
One evening, the queen expressed a desire to sing something from Mendelssohn's first collection of songs and asked the author to accompany her. Choosing her favorite "Italian" song, the queen, according to Mendelssohn, performed it "very nice and clean."
And only when the song was over, the composer considered it his duty to admit that "Italian" was actually written by his sister.
THE WRONG PIANIST ATTACKED!
Mendelssohn had a phenomenal musical memory that amazed his colleagues. In 1844 he was invited to solo in Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto, and when he arrived at the concert it was found that no one had the sheet music for the piano part. Although Mendelssohn did not look at these notes for at least two years, he played from memory, and played brilliantly.
And much earlier, he accomplished an even more impressive feat in the performance of Bach's Matthew Passion, which Mendelssohn literally saved from oblivion. Mendelssohn intended not only to conduct the mass, but also to play the piano part, however, having taken a place at the piano, he suddenly saw in front of him not the Bach score, but other notes that only looked like a score. Mendelssohn could delay the beginning of the concert and demand that the score of the Passion be brought to him, or he could close the “wrong” notes and play music from memory. However, Felix acted differently. Performing the keyboard part and conducting, he glanced at the notes from time to time and regularly turned the pages. No one guessed that it was just a trick on his part.
Bach REINCARNATION
Mendelssohn's love for Bach's music did not pass unnoticed by the public; he rediscovered for the listeners the beauty of the early works of this eighteenth-century master. The St. Matthew Passion, revived with the light hand of Felix, began to be performed throughout Europe, and very soon the name of Mendelssohn became inextricably linked with the name of Bach. This close connection could not but cause all sorts of comments. Berlioz once dropped: "There is no God but Bach, and Mendelssohn is his prophet."
SAUSAGES - THIS IS HAPPINESS!
Mendelssohn had to travel often and for a long time with concerts, and, like any traveler, he missed home comfort and familiar surroundings. On tour in England in 1846, one reception after another was arranged in honor of Mendelssohn. But he himself recalled with the greatest pleasure not about gala dinners, but about how he accidentally stumbled upon a butcher's shop where they sold real German sausages. Immediately buying a long bunch of fried sausages, the composer ate them on the spot.
INTERRUPTED FUGE
In the same England, such an incident happened to Mendelssohn. He was specially invited to the Sunday evening service at London's St. Paul's Cathedral, in order to play something on the organ at the end. However, the delay in the service was not to the liking of the church ministers, it was in their interests to quickly expel the parishioners and lock the cathedral. Mendelssohn began to play Bach's majestic fugue. The audience, with bated breath, listened to the growing power of this music, and suddenly the many-voiced organ went numb. The attendants stopped the bellows that were pumping air into the organ pipes. And yet, two days later, Mendelssohn managed to complete the fugue, so rudely interrupted in St. Paul's Cathedral - but in a different church, where he was called to speak by the organist there.
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From the book Memory that warms the heart the author Razzakov FedorChapter 3. Felix Kulov Early in the morning the duty car of the War Ministry dropped me off at the airport. Life was already in full swing in the parliamentary hall. Vice-President Felix Kulov, impetuous as always, surrounded by military men, diplomats and journalists, decided some operational
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From the book Ninth grade. Second school author Bunimovich Evgeny AbramovichMaria Felix When everything already seemed lost, fortune suddenly smiled at Carolina Otero. At eighty-six, Bella was offered to make a film about her life, starring Maria Felix. It was a tearful melodrama about the love of the brilliant dancer Bella. Film contrary
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From the book Music Embodied in Stone. Eric Mendelsohn author Steinberg AlexanderFELIX MENDELSOSN FEBRUARY 3, 1809 - NOVEMBER 4, 1847 ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: WATERLAND NATIONALITY: GERMAN MUSICAL STYLE: ROMANTICISM SIGN WORK: "WEDDING MARCH" FROM THE MUSIC FOR THE COMEDY "A MIDsummer Night's Dream" (1842) WHERE DID YOU HEARD THIS MUSIC: AS THE FINAL PIECE
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His success with his contemporaries was truly limitless: not one of composers of the XIX century has not received as much love and reverence as he did. Schumann called him "the Mozart of the nineteenth century". Liszt and Chopin admired his talent. British Queen Victoria considered his music incomparable. And although today the attitude towards the work of Mendelssohn is no longer so unrestrainedly enthusiastic, not a single “hit” of the past or present can still compare with the unthinkable popularity of his “Wedding March”.Felix Mendelssohn was born on February 3, 1809 in Hamburg. His grandfather was a famous Jewish philosopher and educator, whose works were translated into many languages and even earned him the nickname "German Socrates". My father was the founder of a large and prosperous banking house. A man of liberal views, he decided to acquire for his children what the great Heine called " entrance ticket into European culture" - a baptismal certificate. In 1816, the seven-year-old Felix, all his sisters and younger brother were baptized in one of the churches in Berlin according to the Reformed rite. Later, the elder Mendelssohn also converted to a new religion. He added a second name to his last name - Bartholdi. Since then, he and his children were officially called Mendelssohn-Bartholdy.
The mother of the future composer was versatile educated and very musical, she also drew well, spoke French, English, Italian and even ancient Greek, reading Homer in the original.
The boy grew up in an atmosphere of love and care. From the first days of his life, happiness smiled at him, as if justifying his name, because Felix means “happy”. From the very beginning, parents were concerned about giving their children a good education. Their first teacher was their mother, but then the best teachers were invited. Felix studied with pleasure, and his mother made sure that the boy did not remain idle for a minute. Perhaps she even overdid it. Until the end of his days, the composer never learned to rest and relax, and this led to serious nervous overload that affected his health.
The boy early began to show extraordinary abilities for music. His first piano teacher was again his mother, but then her place was taken by the brilliant pianist and teacher Ludwig Berger. Felix studied jokingly, with surprising ease overcoming all the obstacles that his still too small hand put him, he played from the score with the confidence of an experienced performer. At the same time, he began studying music theory and counterpoint with Professor Zelter. When Felix was eleven, Zelter introduced him to his great friend Goethe. The virtuoso spiritual game of the young child prodigy gave the poet real pleasure. Every evening, while the boy was visiting his Weimar house, he sat him down at the instrument with the words: “Today I didn’t listen to you at all, baby, make some noise.”
Already at the age of fourteen, Mendelssohn was the author of thirteen small symphonies, several cantatas, piano concertos and many pieces for organ. A little later, he composed a number of small comic operas. In this regard, only the young Mozart could compare with him.
However, early success did not spoil Felix. He owed this to the reasonable upbringing and strictness of his father. The elder Mendelssohn cared a lot about making his son a comprehensively developed personality. Felix diligently studied ancient and new languages, took drawing lessons. Among the studies of science and music, sports were not forgotten. The teenager learned to ride, fence, swim. Well, for spiritual improvement, the future composer gave a lot of communication with the luminaries of the world of art and literature who gathered in their house, among whom were Gounod, Weber, Paganini, Heine, Hegel.
Felix worked tirelessly and hard for the next two years. He wrote two concertos for two pianos and orchestra, a piano quartet and a sonata for violin and piano. Rave reviews about Felix's talent increasingly led his father to the idea that perhaps his son should choose a career as a professional musician. However, he still had some doubts about this, and in the spring of 1825 he decided to take his son to Paris, so that there, in the capital music world time to make a final decision. Moreover, in Paris he had acquaintances among the most prominent musicians.
Felix agreed to listen to one of the most famous composers, the director of the Paris Conservatory, Maestro Cherubini. In addition to his extraordinary talent, Cherubini was distinguished by unimaginable waywardness and stubbornness. So, he refused to accept the still very young Liszt at the conservatory on the grounds that he was not a French subject. The prayers of Leaf, who knelt before him and kissed his hands, did not touch the old stubborn heart. However, he treated Felix very favorably: “The boy is amazingly talented. He will undoubtedly succeed, and he has already achieved a lot.”
The verdict of the illustrious maestro removed the last doubts from the elder Mendelssohn. Felix's future was set. And although he did not quit his studies at the university, where he entered not so long ago, he devoted almost all his time music lessons. It was at this time that the overture, amazing in beauty and grace, appeared. "A dream in a summer night", inspired by Shakespeare.
However, even a genius is not immune from creative failures. comic opera"The Wedding of Camacho" based on one of the episodes of Cervantes' novel "Don Quixote", written in the autumn of 1826 and staged in Berlin opera house, was not successful. This first (and last) opera by Mendelssohn was indeed very weak. Critics, many of whom were annoyed by Felix's undeservedly inflated success, gloated. “For the son of a rich man, opera, in general, is not so bad,”- wrote one. "Such a weak, ill-conceived work should not have been brought to the public at all,"- claimed another. Of course, Felix suffered, he was generally extremely sensitive to criticism, but time took its toll, and new creative plans forced to forget the bitterness of defeat.
The father believed that his son needed a long trip to Europe. Only in this way, in his opinion, could a young musician hone his skills, become a mature artist and person. In April 1829, Felix went to England (by this time he had already completed his university course, successfully passing his final exams). The capital of "Foggy Albion" met Mendelssohn with open arms. After all, not only a musician with a European name came to London, but also the son of one of the wealthiest Berlin bankers. Besides, Felix was unusually good-looking. The great novelist W. Thackeray wrote: "More beautiful face I didn't have to see. I think that's what our Savior looked like."
Felix was invited to the most aristocratic salons, to the most exquisite balls. Youthful gaiety and fleeting infatuation with "a pair of very deep expressive brown eyes" did not interfere with intense and brilliant performances. Mendelssohn conducted not only his own compositions, but also works by Mozart, Weber, Beethoven. He amazed the English public by conducting with a stick from a special console, while in London before him it was customary to conduct an orchestra either from the first violin position or sitting at the piano.
In London, Felix met a speaker there famous singer Maria Malibran. Liszt, Rossini, Donizetti admired her amazing voice and beauty. Felix also did not escape the passion for the "beautiful Mary". The news of this seriously excited and worried his father, who believed that an affair with a singer was dangerous for a young, still inexperienced person. However, Felix's courtship had no serious consequences. It's funny, but three years later, Mendelssohn Sr. had the opportunity to personally meet the singer, and she made an even stronger impression on him than on her son.
Ending concert season gave Felix the opportunity to undertake a journey through the country. He was attracted by the highlands of Scotland, its freedom-loving people, sung in the novels of Walter Scott, which he was fond of since childhood. The dilapidated castle in Edinburgh in Felix's imagination was associated primarily with the image of the legendary Mary Stuart. Pictures of the past came to life before his eyes, awakened his creative imagination. This is how the first bars of the music were born, which much later, after a long hard work, would become the Scottish Symphony. Another work of Mendelssohn is connected with his stay in Scotland - his program symphonic overture "Fingal's Cave"("Hybrids"). It reflected the composer's impressions of a trip to the Hybrid Islands. There, on the island of Staff, which attracted travelers with its famous basalt caves, the so-called Fingal's Cave was especially famous, where, according to ancient legends, the hero of the Celtic epic Fingal and his bard son Ossian lived.
Mendelssohn returned to his homeland in December 1829, but already in early May 1830 he left Berlin again. This time his path lay in Italy and France. He traveled without haste. For two weeks he stayed in Weimar with Goethe, who received him with extraordinary cordiality. Then he stopped in Munich, where he fell in love with a young girl named Delfina Shaurot, a very talented pianist. She inspired him to create the famous First Piano Concerto in G minor. However, the main events in their relationship took place later, a year later, when he again visited Munich on the way back.
The abundance of impressions from Italy did not prevent Felix from working hard. He completed his symphony "Hybrides" ("Fingal's Cave"), continued to polish the Scottish symphony and proceeded to create the Italian symphony. At the same time, he worked on musical embodiment scenes of Walpurgis Night from Goethe's Faust.
On the way to France, Felix stopped again in Munich and there renewed his acquaintance with Delphine von Chauroth. Delphine belonged to an old aristocratic family, and the King of Bavaria Ludwig I himself, in a private conversation with Felix, expressed bewilderment why he was in no hurry to call Fraulein von Schaurot his wife, especially since the girl's parents were not against their marriage. Felix managed to tactfully avoid answering, and the king realized that there was no point in talking about this topic. The composer really liked Delphine, but perhaps he was not sure that she was exactly the girl he needed, or maybe he was afraid that an early marriage would interfere with his musical career. In addition, a meeting with Paris awaited him ahead.
The twenty-two-year-old musician plunges headlong into the Parisian whirlpool. In the opera, the "stars" sparkled - Malibran, Lablache, Roubini. IN drama theater The Comedie Francaise was captivated by the famous Mademoiselle de Mars, whose voice brought Felix to tears. He admired the art of the great dancer Taglioni with boundless admiration. Amorous Felix was seriously carried away by the pretty actress Leontina Fay. The passion was so strong that the elder Mendelssohn, who found out about this, asked his friends to warn his son: if he is going to take a responsible step in life, let him first think carefully and check himself.
Before returning home, Felix decided to visit London once again, where he was invited by the London Philharmonic to perform new works. British enthusiasm for young composer was so great that, as soon as he appeared in concert hall, as enthusiastic exclamations were immediately heard: “Long live Mendelssohn!” and everyone started applauding.
In July 1832, after a two-year absence, the composer returned home. Now his name was well known in the musical circles of Germany and England, and relatives, and he himself, believed that it was time for him to take a position that gave him a certain social position. He put forward his candidacy for the vacant position of director of the Berlin Singing Academy. Alas, it was not Mendelssohn who received the majority of votes in the elections, but the mediocre composer Rungenhagen. main role the origin of Felix played here. Yes, the elder Mendelssohn converted to Christianity and raised his children in the Protestant faith, but in the eyes of the Prussian court and cultural elite, Felix remained only an ambitious "Jewish boy." Mendelssohn, by the way, was often attacked by German anti-Semites even later. Especially violent attacks were allowed by Richard Wagner, for whom the name of Mendelssohn always remained hated.
Defending Mendelssohn from such attacks, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote in one of his articles: “And Wagner directs his poisonous arrows at this elegant, always attractive composer for the public ... reproaching him with special persistence - whatever you think! - Belonging to the Jewish tribe.
Felix was acutely aware of his failure. Leaving Berlin was his only wish. The case helped to carry it out. In the city of Düsseldorf, where they were preparing for the traditional Lower Rhine music festival, he was offered the direction of concerts. They were so successful that he was asked to lead the entire musical life of the city. He spent two years in this city. He worked a lot, his oratorio "Paul" and the overture "The Tale of the Beautiful Melusina" were enthusiastically received by the audience. In Düsseldorf he was loved, but over time, Felix began to be somewhat burdened by the narrowness and provinciality of life there.
Fortunately, in July 1835 he was invited to Leipzig, one of the largest cities in Germany, to direct the famous concert organization - Gewandhaus. In Leipzig, Mendelssohn achieved much of what he had only dreamed of before. His art as a conductor reached the pinnacle, and through his efforts Leipzig became the musical capital of Germany. The sun of success and glory shone over him during these years.
Significant changes have also taken place in his personal life. In March 1837, Mendelssohn married the daughter of a French Reformed pastor, Cécile Jeanrenot, in Frankfurt. The exit of the newlyweds from the church was not accompanied by the sounds of the famous "Wedding March"- it hasn't been written yet. However, Felix's friend, the composer Hiller, composed solemn music especially for this occasion.
Cecile was not particularly musical, but she was a very sweet, fairly educated, and most importantly, calm and balanced woman. For the nervous, easily excitable Felix, she became the ideal life partner. In January 1838, their first child was born, who was named Karl Wolfgang Pavel. In total, they had five children. Felix adored them and Cecile.
In April 1843, thanks to the energy and efforts of Mendelssohn, the first conservatory in Germany was created in Leipzig, and he himself becomes its leader and invites the best musicians of the country to teach in it. Mendelssohn enjoyed unquestioned authority among students. However, character traits left their mark on his pedagogical activity. With his students he was kind and generous, but sometimes irritated over trifles. Even a careless or sloppy hairstyle of some student could unbalance him.
Friedrich Wilhelm IV, who ascended the throne of Prussia in 1840, really wanted the composer to move from Leipzig (Saxony) to him in Berlin, promising him patronage and support. However, by and large, little came of this collaboration. However, by order of the king, Felix wrote music for the tragedy of Sophocles "Antigone" and for Shakespeare's play "A Midsummer Night's Dream". For the latter he composed thirteen musical numbers, and the "Wedding March", which sounded in the fifth act, eventually gained truly fantastic popularity. Already at the premiere of "March", the audience jumped up from their seats and gave the composer a standing ovation.
During these years, Mendelssohn made a number of new successful tours to England. Several times he was invited to Buckingham Palace, where he played music with the royal couple and literally charmed Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. By the way, the tradition of performing the "Wedding March" during the wedding celebrations came to us with light hand Queen Victoria. After all, it was first performed in 1858 during the marriage of her daughter.
Perhaps even more popular than the oratorios "Paul" and "Elijah" were Mendelssohn's "Songs without Words". The composer wrote them for 17 years, starting in 1830. In total, he created 48 "Songs". The only musical genre that turned out to be beyond the composer's control was opera. The dream of its creation passed through his whole life, but remained unfulfilled. Nevertheless, in 1845-46 he began work on the opera Lorelei. To a large extent, this decision was made under the influence of acquaintance with an outstanding Swedish singer Jenny Lind, who admired the composer's work and dreamed of singing in his future opera. Some claimed that Lind, who was called the "Swedish Nightingale", was in love with Mendelssohn. This is exactly what the famous storyteller Hans Christian Andersen thought, who himself was hopelessly and passionately in love with the singer.
As for Felix, it is almost certain that his feelings for Jenny were purely platonic, although Cecile sometimes watched her husband's friendship with the singer with concern.
In recent years, Mendelssohn worked literally for wear and tear, in a hurry to do as much as possible, as if anticipating his early departure. Often he looked exhausted, he was tormented by severe headaches. The depression of the spirit alternated with bursts of feverish activity, which consumed his last strength.
In May 1847, the composer suffered a heavy blow: his sister Fanny, his most devoted and faithful friend, suddenly died. Since childhood, they had an unusually warm and trusting relationship. Fanny was extraordinary talented musician, and Felix valued her strict judgments more than a sea of enthusiastic applause. The death of his sister finally undermined the health of the composer. He could not help feeling that, together with Fanny, he had buried the best part of his "I".
In October 1847, in Leipzig, the composer experienced two nervous shocks, as brain hemorrhages were called at that time. On November 4, he suffered a third blow, which turned out to be fatal.
On November 7, Mendelssohn was buried with a huge gathering of people. Famous musicians, among them Schumann, carried his coffin. That same night, the body was sent on a special train to Berlin, where it was buried in the family vault.
When Felix was in Berlin for the last time during his sister's life, Fanny reproached him for not coming to her birthday for a very long time. Climbing the steps of the train and giving his sister a hand, Felix said: “Honestly, next time I will be with you.”
And he kept his promise. November 14, Fanny's birthday, brother and sister were close by.
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