Felix Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg on February 3, 1809. Mendelssohn's grandfather, Moses Mendelssohn (1729–86), had been a famous Jewish philosopher of the German Enlightenment. Felix’s father Abraham had converted to Protestantism because of prejudice against Jews in Prussia and other European countries. In 1811, the Mendelssohn family moved to Berlin and by 1816, Felix and his siblings were baptized into the Protestant faith.

Mendelssohn received his first music instruction from Marie Bigot and Pierre Baillot on the violin and piano, respectively. In 1819, Felix began his first lessons in composition with Karl Friedrich Zelter, which focused on the compositional techniques of Handel and the counterpoint of J.S. Bach. In 1820, Felix wrote his first compositions, and he continued to compose approximately four works per year until his death. Mendelssohn’s Ein Sommernachstrum Overture and A-flat Concerto for Two Pianos both debuted in 1827 in a public concert, along with the northern Germany premiere of Beethoven’s Ninth symphony.

In 1829, Mendelssohn conducted Berlin’s Singakademie in a revival of J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion, its first performance since Bach’s death. Shortly after this performance, Mendelssohn composed his Reformation Symphony while touring his grandfather’s birthplace, Dessault. On this same tour, he visited Rome and finished his first draft of the Hebrides Overture, and in December announced it as a birthday present to his father.

In 1833, he began conducting the Lower Rhine Music Festival. Within a few years his reputation as a consummate conductor was established, and he was hired as music director and conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig. He resided in Leipzig for the rest of his life.

At the age of 27, Felix Mendelssohn married Cecile Jeanrenaud, and they had their first child, Carl Wolfgang Paul Mendelssohn two years later. Felix's continued interest in music history earned him the reputation of ‘music executor,’ and in 1839 Felix began his historical music series, which later included the works of Beethoven, Handel, Mozart, and Bach. During that same year, Mendelssohn, with the help of Robert Schumann, premiered Schubert’s Symphony no. 9 with the Gewandhaus Orchestra. A later series of concerts featured all four of Beethoven’s Overtures to Fidelio, and Mendelssohn also hosted a J.S. Bach benefit organ concert for the building of a Bach Monument.

For many years Mendelssohn was content with his position at the Gewandhaus, and in 1843 Leipzig’s new Music Conservatory opened with Felix as the director. The last years of his life were very important for Mendelssohn’s compositions. During that time, he composed his famous Violin Concerto in E minor. He premiered his final Oratorio Elijah in 1846 in Birmingham, England, and it was considered his best work. On May 14, 1847, Felix received word that his beloved sister Fanny had died, and he collapsed. He never quite recovered and on November 4, 1847, Felix Mendelssohn died. As one of the first true music historians, Mendelssohn brought about the idea of reviving the old, not only through performance, but in teaching it as well.

Posted 18 October 2007