Fanny Mendelssohn
Fanny Mendelssohn, born on November 14, 1805, in Hamburg, Germany, was a significant figure in nineteenth-century music, known for her prolific compositions and support of fellow musicians. As the sister of renowned composer Felix Mendelssohn, she showcased immense musical talent from a young age, studying with notable musicians and performing impressively at private concerts. Despite her exceptional skills and the production of over 250 works, including lieder and chamber music, societal norms limited her opportunities for a public career as a female composer.
After marrying Wilhelm Hensel in 1829 and focusing on family life, Mendelssohn continued to compose and host influential private concerts known as Sonntagsmusiken, where she displayed her own works and those of other composers to a supportive audience. Her music gained recognition, including admiration from figures like Queen Victoria, though she often published under her brother's name. Fanny’s later years were marked by a notable trip to Italy, which inspired her creativity and led to the creation of her pivotal work, "Das Jahr." Following her untimely death in 1847, her legacy as a composer has been increasingly recognized, with contemporary experts viewing her as one of the great talents of her time and highlighting her role in encouraging women to pursue artistic careers.
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Subject Terms
Fanny Mendelssohn
Classical musician and composer
- Born: November 14, 1805
- Place of Birth: Place of birth: Hamburg, Germany
- Died: May 14, 1847
- Place of Death: Place of death: Berlin, Germany
Significance: Fanny Mendelssohn was an important figure in nineteenth-century music. She composed many unique pieces; supported and advised fellow musicians, including her brother Felix Mendelssohn; and by her example, encouraged other women to pursue artistic careers.
Background
Fanny Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg, Germany, on November 14, 1805. Her full name at birth was Fanny Cäcilie Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. Her parents, Abraham Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and Lea Solomon, lived the comfortable and cultured lives of a well-established banking family. They saw to it that Mendelssohn, along with her siblings Felix, Rebecca, and Paul, received excellent educations. The children studied math, geography, visual arts, world languages, and music.
Early on, Mendelssohn and her younger brother Felix demonstrated strong musical talents that their parents wholeheartedly cultivated. The siblings studied in Paris and Berlin with renowned musicians such as Marie Bigot de Morogues, Ludwig Berger, and Carl Friedrich Zelter. From these important figures, the Mendelssohn children learned advanced skills and theories of piano and musical composition. During this period, the siblings also became inseparable friends and confidantes.
The Mendelssohn family hosted regular private concerts at their home. Mendelssohn and Felix frequently played the piano at these gatherings. By the age of thirteen, Fanny Mendelssohn was able to delight family and friends by performing twenty-four pieces from the Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach without having to use sheet music. By 1818, the children were already composing their own unique works. Mendelssohn focused her efforts on piano pieces classified in nineteenth-century Germany as lieder, emotional and harmonious art songs in the Romantic tradition.
Life’s Work
The Mendelssohn siblings continued pursuing their musical passion as well as developing their friendship. However, societal conventions soon began driving them in different directions. While her brother moved steadily toward a grand career as a pianist and composer, Mendelssohn did not have the opportunity. At the time, professional female musicians were rare. Most people felt that women’s most important duties were at home rather than on the stage of public performance. The family encouraged Mendelssohn to marry into a more socially acceptable domestic lifestyle, which she did in October 1829.
Although this redirection of her life ended any hopes she may have had of a professional career in music, Mendelssohn continued to play and compose as prolifically as ever. She wrote more than 250 lieders and other keyboard pieces, along with a like number of choral and chamber music works. These included four cantatas, a piano trio, a string quartet, and an overture.
She only performed in public once, at a February 1838 charity event during which she played a concerto by Felix. However, she published several of her original pieces under Felix’s name. These works were widely embraced by audiences, including Queen Victoria of Great Britain, who chose Fanny Mendelssohn’s Italien, published under Felix’s name, as a favorite musical selection.
In 1831, Mendelssohn revived the neglected family tradition of regular private concerts. She began hosting Sonntagsmusiken, Sunday concerts, at her home. She had creative control over these events, and they provided her with an outlet of expression. She selected artists and musical works to be performed, conducted performances, and composed and played her own works as well as those of other great composers.
The meetings were by invitation only, so the attendees were generally friendly and supportive to one another and passionate about music. Mendelssohn loved the informal atmosphere of the Sonntagsmusiken, and her own productivity and performances thrived. Her parties became famous in Berlin for the quality and originality of the music and the impressiveness of the guest list, which included greats such as Franz Liszt and fellow female musicians Clara Schumann and Johanna Kinkel.
During a vacation in Italy from 1839 to 1840, Mendelssohn discovered more lenient attitudes toward female musicians. Italians, learning of her skill, embraced her music and spread her name and praise more widely than ever. This experience emboldened and inspired Mendelssohn, who, upon returning to Berlin, composed perhaps her most important work, Das Jahr. Completed in 1841, this piece addressed each month of the year individually. She also agreed to publish some of her works, and in 1846, she had printed seven opuses including lieders and choral and piano pieces.
Mendelssohn continued to work closely with her famous brother, often reviewing his latest works and advising him. Felix, always seeking out her opinions, nicknamed her "Minerva" in reference to the Roman goddess of wisdom. Their lifelong bond was broken on May 14, 1847, when Fanny Mendelssohn died suddenly of a stroke shortly after rehearsing for a Sonntagsmusiken. Felix was heartbroken and died that November, but not before arranging to have more of his sister’s works published.
Impact
Although Fanny Mendelssohn died young and spent most of her life composing and playing music privately, experts today acknowledge her as one of the great talents of nineteenth-century music. The posthumous publication of her work assured her legacy as a classical great, considered by many even better than her famous brother. In addition, her work in music helped to change societal attitudes and welcome more women into artistic careers. In 2023, Mendelssohn was the subject of a documentary, Fanny: The Other Mendelssohn, which was made by filmmaker Sheila Hayman, Mendelssohn’s great-great-great granddaughter.
Personal Life
Fanny Mendelssohn married court painter Wilhelm Hensel in October 1829. The couple had a son, Sebastian Ludwig Felix Hensel, in 1830.
Bibliography
"Bradshaw, Peter. “Fanny: The Other Mendelssohn Review – Overdue Recognition for a Groundbreaking Genius." Guardian, 23 Oct. 2023, www.theguardian.com/film/2023/oct/23/fanny-the-other-mendelssohn-review-overdue-recognition-for-a-groundbreaking-genius. Accessed 30 Sept. 2024.
Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel." Naxos, www.naxos.com/Bio/Person/Fanny‗MendelssohnHensel/27352. Accessed 30 Sept. 2024.
"Fanny Hensel Née Mendelssohn." Fanny Hensel, fannyhensel.de/?page‗id=1393&lang=en. Accessed 30 Sept. 2024.
"Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, 1805–1847 Biography." Library of Congress, 23 Feb. 2009, www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200156440/. Accessed 30 Sept. 2024.
"Lied and Lieder." BBC, 2024, www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z4mvscw Accessed 30 Sept. 2024.
"Six of the Best: Works by Fanny Mendelssohn." Classical-Music.com, 14 Nov. 2018, www.classical-music.com/articles/six-best-works-fanny-mendelssohn. Accessed 30 Sept. 2024.
"The 10 Greatest Pieces of Music by Fanny Mendelssohn, Ranked." Classic FM, 7 Mar. 2024, www.classicfm.com/composers/fanny-mendelssohn/best-pieces-music-ranked/. Accessed 30 Sept. 2024.