Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847)

Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847) - photo 1

Felix Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn (full name Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy) was a German composer, pianist, conductor, teacher, and one of the greatest representatives of Romanticism in music.

Felix was born into a Jewish musical family that later converted to Christianity. He received a versatile education and already as a child wrote many musical compositions, including 5 operas, 11 symphonies for string orchestra, concertos, sonatas and fugues. Mendelssohn's first public performance took place in Berlin in 1818, when he was nine years old. In 1821 Mendelssohn was introduced to J.W. von Goethe, for whom he performed works by J.S. Bach and Mozart and to whom he dedicated his Piano Quartet No. 3 in B minor. A friendship developed between the famous wise poet and the 12-year-old musician.

A few years later, the talented musician began conducting in various orchestras in Europe, and became acquainted with Carl Weber. In England, where Mendelssohn visited very often, by the middle of the 19th century his music had become very popular, even with Queen Victoria he was the most favorite composer. He dedicated his Symphony No. 3 in A minor major (Scottish Symphony) to the Queen.

Among Mendelssohn's most famous works are A Midsummer Night's Dream (1826), the Italian Symphony (1833), a violin concerto (1844), two piano concertos (1831, 1837), the oratorio Elijah (1846) and several chamber pieces. The tradition of playing the "Wedding March" from A Midsummer Night's Dream in wedding processions dates back to its performance at the wedding of a royal princess in 1858, already after Mendelssohn's death.

In 1843, Mendelssohn founded a conservatory in Leipzig, where he taught composition with Schumann. Mendelssohn was one of the first great Romantic composers of the nineteenth century.

Date and place of birt:3 february 1809, Hamburg, Germany
Date and place of death:4 november 1847, Leipzig, Germany
Period of activity: XIX century
Specialization:Composer, Educator
Art style:Romanticism

Creators Romanticism

William Potts (1859 - 1947)
William Potts
1859 - 1947
Cyprian Kamil Norwid (1821 - 1883)
Cyprian Kamil Norwid
1821 - 1883
Carl Frederick Ogor (1833 - 1895)
Carl Frederick Ogor
1833 - 1895
Andreas Juuel (1817 - 1868)
Andreas Juuel
1817 - 1868
Peter Christian Holm (1823 - 1885)
Peter Christian Holm
1823 - 1885
Albert Kindler (1833 - 1876)
Albert Kindler
1833 - 1876
Nicholas Pocock (1740 - 1821)
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1740 - 1821
Joseph Cartwright (1789 - 1829)
Joseph Cartwright
1789 - 1829
Bruno Lilyefors (1860 - 1939)
Bruno Lilyefors
1860 - 1939
Pavel Andreyevich Fedotov (1815 - 1852)
Pavel Andreyevich Fedotov
1815 - 1852
Karl Friedrich Christian Welsch (1828 - 1904)
Karl Friedrich Christian Welsch
1828 - 1904
Louis Casimir Henault (1836 - 1885)
Louis Casimir Henault
1836 - 1885
Hubert Robert (1733 - 1808)
Hubert Robert
1733 - 1808
Vasily Alekseyevich Serebryakov (1810 - 1886)
Vasily Alekseyevich Serebryakov
1810 - 1886
Walter Hood Fitch (1817 - 1892)
Walter Hood Fitch
1817 - 1892
Benjamin Champney (1817 - 1907)
Benjamin Champney
1817 - 1907