JACOB LUDWIG FELIX MENDELSSOHN

JACOB LUDWIG FELIX MENDELSSOHN

Jacob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was born in Hamburg, Germany on February 3, 1809. His early piano education was given to him by his mother, who then sent him to Ludwig Berger. He also studied violin with Carl Wilhelm Henning and Euard Rietz. At an early age, Mendelssohn also displayed a talent for foreign languages and drawing with pastels. Around 1820, Mendelssohn began study with his greatest teacher, Carl Friedrich Zelter. Zelter, who realized what enormous talent the boy had, took him to Weimar, and introduced him to Goethe, who was impressed by Mendelssohn's playing. Zelter also helped Mendelssohn get into the Berlin Singakademie as an alto. The Akademie even performed one Mendelssohn's works in 1819. Mendelssohn was proving himself to be a prodigious young musician. His first public performance was held when he was nine, in 1818. He wrote an octet at the age of 16, and composed an overture for the performance of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" when he was 17. The perfection of his early works remained throughout his entire career. As an adult, Mendelssohn traveled widely in Europe. He visited England on numerous occasions, as well as Austria, Italy, Switzerland and his native Germany. He was well known not only for his composition and playing, but also for his conducting. He conducted the Berlin Singakademie in 1829 in a performance that revived interest in Bach's choral works. He also conducted the Lower-Rhine Music Festival in 1833, and in Cologne in 1835. He elevated the already prestigious Gewandhaus Orchestra to an all time high when he led it in 1835. In 1837, Mendelssohn married the daughter of a French Protestant clergyman, and they had five children. In 1841, King Friedrich Wilhelm IV offered the post of Generalmusikdirektor to Mendelssohn. This job put gave him responsibility over music of the court and of the Cathedral. Mendelssohn established the Conservatorium in Leipzig in 1842. The illustrius teaching staff of the institution included Mendelssohn himself, Schumann, Hauptmann, David, Becker, Plaidy, and Wenzel. Sadly, Mendelssohn became sick in 1847. At the age of only 38, Mendelssohn passed away. The exact cause of his death is unknown, though through the last days of his life he suffered severe headaches and chills. Mendelssohn's pieces have become favorites in the hearts of those in Germany, England, America, and Russia. One particularly well known piece is the "Wedding March" from "A Midsummer Night's Dream".