10 Of Mendelssohn's Compositions in Honor of His Birthday

cmp2020 (72)in #music • 7 years ago (edited)

Today is Felix Mendelssohn's birthday, as many of you may or may not know. Mendelssohn was a composer during the romantic period, here's a little bit more about him.

The Life of Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn was born on February 3rd, 1809 in Hamburg, Germany. In 1811, the family had moved to Berlin, due to the French occupation of Hamburg. It was here that Mendelssohn began to study the piano with Ludwig Berger, and music composition with Carl Zelter, who played a major role in influencing Mendelssohn's composition style.

His sister Fanny became a well-regarded pianist and amateur composer. As a result, Abraham, Mendelssohn's father, believed that she would be the more musical of the two. However, in this time period, a professional female musician was not deemed appropriate by society, so Fanny remained active, but as a non-professional musician. Despite this, Abraham was still not interested in making a serious investment in Mendelssohn's future as a musician, until Mendelssohn later demonstrated that he was quite serious about making music into a professional career.

During his childhood, Mendelssohn demonstrated his genius with a handful of operas, and 11 completed symphonies, and made his debut as a child prodigy at the age of 9 in Berlin. Within 8 years, Mendelssohn had written one of his most famous works, Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream; the only opera he ever had performed in public, The Marriage of the Camacho; along with many other compositions (such as the Octet in E-flat Major).

Mendelssohn would also taste success as a conductor many years later in 1829, and continue to compose and conduct his most famous pieces through the years. In 1836, Mendelssohn met Cécile Jeanrenaud, the daughter of a clergyman who was, at the time of their engagement, 16. They were married in 1837, and had five children throughout their marriage.

In mid 1847, Mendelssohn grew very ill after the unexpected death of his sister, who had been a life long influence to him. His health began to deteriorate, and six months later, he died from a ruptured blood vessel in Leipzig Germany. Despite his death at a young age (38), he still managed to leave a mark in today's world as one of the first "Romantic" composers. Here are 10 of his pieces:

His Works

10. The String Octet in E-flat Major

I absolutely love this piece. It's hard to believe he was only 15 when he wrote it, I think it truly displays the amount of knowledge he had about music theory, and how he was able to translate that knowledge into his compositions. This piece makes me think of love, just that warm feeling you get when you truly feel love. I would highly recommend this piece, I listen to it almost everyday on the bus ride home from school.

9. Piano Trio no. 1 in D Minor

When I listened to the piece, the first thing it made me think of was the death of a loved one, and the pain associated with that loss. I suspected that maybe Mendelssohn had gone through a loss recently, so I looked up the year of its completion. It was completed in 1839, Mendelssohn's father died in 1836, I wonder if he started writing this after the death of his father.

8. The Scottish Symphony Movement 4

This Symphony was inspired by a trip to Scotland that Mendelssohn took during his tour in 1829. I can definitely, see the means of inspiration. "Vacation" is generally a good inspiration for any form of art. Many aspects of this movement make me think of the New World Symphony by Dvorak (Probably simialar titles, and dramatic sections) Here is the 4th movement of the Scottish symphony.

7. String Quartet in F Minor

This piece makes me think of sprinting to try and catch a train because you think you are about to miss it, but really it's the wrong train, so you wind up not being able to stop breathing heavily for like an hour (true story). In all seriousness, this piece does make me think of racing to try to achieve (catch) something you really want (especially the end).

6. Piano Trio no. 2 In C Minor

For this piece, I really like the 2nd movement (Andante espressivo). The melody is absolutely gorgeous, and makes me think of a boat drifting in the ocean when the waters are still. The second movement occurs at 9:36, for those who are interested.

5. The Italian Symphony

This piece was inspired by a trip to Italy in the same tour as the trip to Scotland Mendelssohn had written the Scottish symphony about. This time, about his perception of Italy. In a letter to his parents, Mendelssohn wrote "This is Italy! And now has begun what I have always thought... to be the supreme joy in life. And I am loving it. Today was so rich that now, in the evening, I must collect myself a little, and so I am writing to you to thank you, dear parents, for having given me all this happiness." So as you can see, Mendelssohn seems to like Italy. Here is the Italian symphony.

4. Violin Concerto in E Minor Movement 1

This piece makes me think of garden weeds, every time you pull one, two grow back. Well, with this piece every time the sound decreases, it comes back a little louder (at least in the beginning). This piece flows well, and makes me remember riding in the car to my Great Grandmother's house on holidays.

3. String Symphony no. 2 in D Major

Mendelssohn wrote this piece (as well as the other string symphonies) when he was 14 (which is a year younger than I am now). I listen to this piece every morning to wake up, and absolutely love it. I associate this piece with riding the school bus in the morning, because I listen to it literally every single morning.

2. Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage

This piece sounds a lot like a lullaby, which makes sense because it's about a calm sea. The middle depicts the Prosperous voyage. I would like to point out the other name in the beginning, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, during this time, and still has many works that are known by people from Germany. Many of the German composers would often write music based on his poetry, and it would appear this piece was based on a von Goethe poem.

1. A Midsummer Night's Dream: Overture/Incidental Music

As you'll probably recall from the summary, this is one of Mendelssohn's most famous works, and it was written when he was 17. He also later wrote Incidental music, which contains a piece I am certain you are familiar with known as "The Wedding March." Here is the overture:

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Thanks for reading this! History definitely changed this day, with the birth of another musical genius. Let me know what you thought of the contents of this list, and also thank you to my music theory teacher for suggesting pieces to include in this list. See you later!