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What country is the birthplace of Felix Mendelssohn. Creativity and biography of Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy is a man of amazing destiny. His life seems to justify the meaning of the name - "happy", although his earthly path was not long. Unlike many composers of his era, he did not know the need, rejection, disappointment - and this probably determined the shape of his music. It does not contain Beethoven's heroism, Liszt's passion or Schumann's penetration into the dark depths of the soul - it is characterized by classical clarity and harmony, balance, combined with romantic spirituality.

The composer came from an outstanding family. His grandfather - Moses Mendelssohn, a philosopher - earned the nickname "Jewish Socrates", his father - Abram Mendelssohn - thanks to his own enterprise, became the head of a banking house. The second surname - Bartholdi - was adopted by the family shortly after the birth of Felix, with the adoption of Christianity.

Felix's musical abilities showed up early. The situation in the family contributed to this - in the Mendelssohn family they took care of the education of children and appreciated art, communicated with philosophers (including Friedrich Hegel) and musicians. The first teacher was Felix's mother, and then he studied with pianist Ludwig Berger, violinist Eduard Ritz, composer Karl Zelter. Fanny, Felix's sister, also studied music. She was an excellent pianist, but the family believed that a woman's destiny was marriage and motherhood, and not a musical career, and Fanny did not become a professional musician, but for Felix she always remained a very close person.

At the age of nine, Mendelssohn performed as a pianist, at ten he made his debut as a vocalist. At the same time, he began to compose music. The young composer created piano pieces, sonatas and even symphonies that seemed mature beyond their age. His mentor Zelter was a friend of Johann Wolfgang Goethe, whose work Felix admired, and introduced him to the student. Goethe received the twelve-year-old musician very warmly, listened with pleasure to the creations of Johann Sebastian Bach and Mendelssohn's own works: “I am Saul, and you are my David!” Goethe said.

By the age of sixteen, Mendelssohn was already the author of many works, including the opera Two Nephews. The family had a tradition of Sunday musical matinees: familiar musicians gathered in the house and performed Felix's compositions. Wanting to hear an objective and authoritative opinion about his son's abilities, his father brought him to Paris, where the composers Luigi Cherubini and Pierre Baio approved Mendelssohn's works. Parisian musical life young composer was not impressed: he concluded that the French value only external showiness in music.

Already in his youth, Mendelssohn declares himself as an innovative composer. In his Octet, E-flat major appears new type romantic scherzo - light, fantastic, leading into the world of bizarre fairy-tale visions. Such scuriousness was the perfect embodiment for the images of William Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream. In 1826, he wrote an overture based on this play - and thought of it not as an introduction to a dramatic performance, but as an independent work intended for concert performance (other musical numbers for the comedy were created much later - in 1843).

The subject of the young composer's keen interest was the work of Bach, almost forgotten at that time - even Zelter considered Bach's choral music, which he introduced Felix to, only as educational material. Through the efforts of Mendelssohn in 1829, for the first time since Bach's death, the St. Matthew Passion was performed. In the same year, Mendelssohn performed in London, where he conducted works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Carl von Weber and his own, and then he toured Scotland. The impressions were embodied in the Hebrides Overture, in addition, the composer began to work on the Scottish Symphony (he completed it in 1842).

In subsequent years, Mendelssohn toured a lot: Italy, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Paris, again London, where his Italian Symphony was performed and the first collection of Songs Without Words was published. For two years, beginning in 1833, he was musical director in Düsseldorf, and in 1835 he accepted an offer to take up the position of bandmaster of the Gewandhaus symphony concerts in Leipzig. In the concert programs he included works by Bach, Mozart, Handel, Beethoven, Weber, as well as his own compositions. The connection with the traditions of Bach and Handel was expressed in the creation of the oratorio "Paul" (according to the composer's intention, this was the first part of the trilogy). In the Leipzig period, many works were born - the new Songs without Words, Rondo Capriccioso, a number of chamber instrumental ensembles, the Ruy Blas overture, the Concerto for violin and orchestra, the symphony-cantata "Hymn of Praise" and others.

In 1841, at the invitation of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV, the composer moved to Berlin. The king intended to found the Academy of Fine Arts, and it was assumed that Mendelssohn would head its musical department, but the king cooled off this idea, and Mendelssohn's position remained unclear. He continues touring, visiting England again. Back in 1840, he petitioned for the opening of a conservatory in Leipzig - and in 1843 the first German conservatory was opened, and Mendelssohn headed it.

In 1846, Mendelssohn completed the oratorio "Elijah" and began work on the third part of the planned trilogy - "Christ", but the implementation of the plan was prevented

shattered health. The death of his beloved sister Fanny in 1847 was a heavy blow for him, and in November of the same year Mendelssohn himself passed away.

Felix Mendelssohn- one of best composers The 19th century, contemporaries compared his musical talent with Mozart's talent, which was well deserved, how many works are widely heard today, written by 16-17 young men? And Mendelssohn has more than one such work. Light, reconciling music is hallmark Mendelssohn, not only as a composer, but also as an aesthete. The outward simplicity and straightforwardness of his exceptional melody is filled with an inner content of rare richness, and high sincere romanticism is amazingly combined with a unique depth.

1. Violin Concerto in E minor, Op.64 (1844)
Loved by the audience, is included in the standard classical repertoire of performers and is one of the most performed in concert venues around the world. As the famous violinist Josef Joachim said: "The Germans have four violin concertos. The greatest and most uncompromising -Beethoven, one Brahms concerto rivals him in seriousness. The richest and most seductive is written by Max Bruch. But the most spiritual, the pearl of the heart, is Mendelssohn's concerto.

2. Symphony No. 4 in A major "Italian", op. 90 (1833)
Symphony No. 4 was the result of the young Mendelssohn's travels in Europe in 1829-1832, inspired by Italy to write it.

Composerin a symphonyconveys his personal impressions of the art, nature and people of Italy, scenes sound in the symphony Italian life, ends with rapid folk dances- saltarello and tarantella. Although this symphony is one of his most famous works, it was never published during his lifetime.

3. On the Wings of Song, Op.34/2 (1835)
Mendelssohn's 34th opus includes six songs for voice andpianowritten approximately in 1834-1836. It was a busy and difficult period in the life of the composer - moving to Leipzig, the death of his father, working on the oratorio "Paul", meeting with his future wife. by the most famous romance opus, and perhaps of all the songs of Mendelssohn is number 2 - "On the Wings of the Song". The text by Heinrich Heine to a beautiful melody tells about the dreams of lovers about a garden at night, with bright fragrant flowers and the murmur of waves. The song shows the nobility and balance of the composer's inner world.

4. Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49 (1839)
This is the first of Mendelssohn's two piano trios and perhaps his most famous chamber composition. The trio is the embodiment of the opposite, on the one hand it is famous for its lyricism, on the other hand it is filled with energy, several times the strength and texture grow into almost orchestral proportions. This flexible and beautifully constructed balance of opposites makesthe art of Mendelssohnso beautiful, "light" and natural.

5. Oratorio "Elijah" Op.70 (1846)
If music is compared with water (immersion in a quiet lake or in a violent full-flowing river), thenoratorio by Mendelssohn"Elijah" can only be compared with the ocean, such power emanates from her. Both oratorios written by the composer - "Paul" and "Elijah" were widely performed during his lifetime and for some time after his death. It is they who show the depth, complexity and spiritual basis of Mendelssohn.

6. Overture "The Hebrides, or Fingal's Cave" in B minor, Op. 26 (1832)
The concert overture "Hebrides" Mendelssohn wrote after visiting the coast of Scotland in 1829. Using modal harmonies in it, the author evokes ancient feelings, drawing picturesque pictures of the breath of the sea. According to the doctor of art criticism V.D. Konen, "The Hebrides" is the brightest of Mendelssohn's six overtures, which generally laidoverture traditionas a special genre of software symphonic music: "At first the composer treated the northern seascape elegiacly. But gradually the music acquires drama and dynamism."

7. Rondo-Capriccioso in E major Op.14 (1824-1830)
The first version of this piece for solo piano was written in 1824, the final one in 1830 as a gift to a friend pianist. The work is in two parts, starting with an elegant Andante and soon progressing to a rhythmic Presto that continues to the end. Mendelssohn uses the entire dynamic range of the piano, interestingly and expressively juxtaposing contrasting pianissimo and fortissimo, for which he is loved by many pianists.

8. Songs without words (1829-1845)
"Songs without words" occupy a central place in the diverse work of Mendelssohn. The composer referred to this form of short lyrical plays throughout his creative life: all 48 songs are collected in 8 notebooks of 6 pieces each, the first notebook was started by a 20-year-old composer, the last completed 16 years later, 2 years before his death. Songs contributed new tradition and new means of expression for the piano and were available to the musically educated amateur. With all its simplicity and modesty, Mendelssohn's "Songs Without Words" entered the history of world music as one of the outstanding monuments of the lyrical art of the 19th century..

9. String Octet in E Flat Major, Op.20 (1825)
Another work of the early Mendelssohn, when he composed this octet at the age of 16, Beethoven was still alive, Schubert , Weber, with this masterpiece, Mendelssohn clearly confirmed his right to stand on a par with such famous colleagues. An octet of a truly symphonic scale, its orchestral arrangements exist and it is a bridge between Mendelssohn's chamber and orchestral works.

10. "Wedding March" from the music for the comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream" Op.61 (1842)
"Wedding March" is far from Mendelssohn's strongest music, but by the will of fate he became his most famous and most performed work in the world. For the first time in my own way intended purpose it sounded in 1847, and became popular in 1858 after the wedding of the English princess Victoria and Prince Frederick III, the future emperor (Kaiser) of Germany.
I would like to wish everyone for whom this march has not yet personally sounded to hear it, and to those who have already heard it, to keep the feelings that connected two loving hearts during its sounding.

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 from double last name were not enthusiastic, 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 history German music. The monument to Felix, which stood in front of the Leipzig Concert Hall, was 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 came, as they say, to the court, and soon they began to invite him to family musical evenings to 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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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 purchase for his children what the great Heine called "an entrance ticket to European culture"- a certificate of baptism. 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 mother became their first teacher, 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 in order to make a final decision there, in the capital of the musical world of that time. Moreover, in Paris he had acquaintances among the most prominent musicians.

Felix agreed to listen to one of famous composers, 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 at the conservatory still quite young Liszt 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 heart of the old stubborn. 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 made us 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 cheerfulness and fleeting infatuation with "a pair of very deep expressive brown eyes" did not interfere with the tense 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. In parallel, he worked on the musical embodiment of the 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 the Comedy Francaise Drama Theater, the audience 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. Nevertheless, 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 the light hand of 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 true friend. Since childhood, they had an unusually warm and trusting relationship. Fanny was an extraordinarily 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 but feel that 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. Notable 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 is last time during the life of his sister was in Berlin, Fanny reproached him for the fact that he had not come for a very long time to her birthday. 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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- ? November 4) - German composer of Jewish origin, pianist, organist, conductor, musical and public figure, author of the wedding march.

1. Biography

2. Creativity

Mendelssohn is one of the most prominent representatives of German romanticism, closely associated with classical traditions (the aesthetic position of Mendelssohn, the founder of Leipzig school- have a focus on classic samples), but Mendelssohn was looking for new types of expressiveness. Mendelssohn's music is characterized by a desire for clarity and balance, it is characterized by an elegiac tone, reliance on everyday forms of music-making and the intonation of a German folk song ("Songs Without Words" for piano, etc.). A specific figurative sphere for Mendelssohn is an elegant fantastic scherzo (overture from the music for the play "A Midsummer Night's Dream", etc.). The performing style of Mendelssohn the pianist, an opponent of superficial virtuosity, influenced his instrumental music (concerts, ensembles, etc.). One of the creators of romantic symphonism, Mendelssohn enriched it with the genre of the program concert overture (? Silence of the Sea and Happy Sailing, 1832, etc.).