Fanny Mendelssohn - Female composer and sister of Felix Mendelssohn
Fanny Mendelssohn - Female composer and sister of Felix Mendelssohn
While I was working on “Hear Ye Israel” from Elijah (by Felix Mendelssohn, Fanny’s brother), Dr. Julianne Baird mentioned that I might enjoy singing some of Fanny Mendelssohn’s songs as well.
I chose to include Fanny Mendelssohn’s “Sehnsucht” because of the poetry and the simple, arching beauty of the vocal lines. It translates to “Longing” and I liked the idea that some of Fanny Mendelssohn’s longing to fully express her musical gifts may have been poured into this composition, and that she may have related personally to the text as she was composing. It has the simple, yet somewhat restless beauty and emerging Romantic sensibilities that one might associate with the great songwriter Schubert.
Who was Fanny Mendelssohn?
Fanny Mendelssohn is best known as the sister of her more renowned brother, Felix Mendelssohn, whose choral and orchestral works are a much beloved part of the Western classical music canon. Like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his sister Nannerl, Fanny grew up playing music and eventually composing side by side with her brother Felix. In fact, her brother is said to have admitted that she was the better pianist between the two. However, when Fanny Mendelssohn married she was discouraged from composing by her father, although she continued to do so, publishing many of her works under her brother’s name. Fanny Mendelssohn’s father wrote: “Music will perhaps become Felix’s profession, while for you it can and must be only an ornament.” Fanny served as a musical adviser to her brother throughout his career and organized many small concerts from the family’s home. We know that the two were close and that upon her death, it is said that Felix’s health suffered tremendously and he passed not long after her.
Q&A: Get to know Fanny Mendelssohn
Q: What vocal compositions has Fanny Mendelssohn composed?
A: Fanny Mendelssohn composed many books of songs and piano pieces that she called “Songs without Words.”
Q: Who were Fanny Mendelssohn contemporaries?
A: Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, and Clara Schumann.
Q: Is there a connection between Fanny Mendelssohn and politics?
A: Fanny Mendelssohn was born into the family of a successful banker, affording her opportunities to study with the best teachers and learn a great deal of music in her youth. It is said Fanny had memorized Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier at age 13. It is clear that access to musical study allowed Fanny Mendelssohn’s gifts to blossom when she was young, but that these gifts were suppressed as she reached maturity and was expected to marry someone within her social class.
Q: How does Fanny Mendelssohn relate to women’s equality?
A: Although Fanny Mendelssohn composed over 500 pieces of music, a tremendous output when we consider she only lived to age 41, Fanny did not have the opportunity to publish them in her own name, but instead had them published under her brother’s name.
Q: How does Fanny Mendelssohn relate to other women’s issues?
A: The expectation of Fanny Mendelssohn’s time was that when she became a woman she would become a wife and give up “childish” things such as musical composition. It is interesting that women were expected to give these up, while men were allowed or even encouraged to refine their skills in the arts. One wonders how much of this is still true today. While men are allowed to continue to create into adulthood, the cultural message received by women could be that they are more suited for “managing” or “helping” the creator. Fanny Mendelssohn unfortunately fell into this pattern in some ways as the adviser to her brother’s musical gift.
Q: Is there a link between Fanny Mendelssohn and women’s entrepreneurship?
A: Fanny Mendelssohn was still an accomplished composer, despite receiving fewer accolades and opportunities for her work to be heard. We are hearing more of Fanny Mendelssohn’s music today, and there is a renewed interest in performances of her songs.
Fanny Mendelssohn resources & recommended recordings
Learn more about this fascinating female composer at Classical-music.com.