Fanny Mendelssohn
Fanny Cäcilie Mendelssohn (
November 14,
1805 –
May 14,
1847), later
Fanny Hensel, was a
German pianist and
composer, and was the sister of
Felix Mendelssohn.
Fanny Mendelssohn was born in
Hamburg, the eldest child of
Abraham Mendelssohn, (who was the son of
Moses Mendelssohn and later changed the family surname to Mendelssohn Bartholdy), and his wife Lea, née Salomon, a granddaughter of the entrepreneur
Daniel Itzig. Fanny benefited from the same
musical education and upbringing as her better known brother, sharing a number of his music tutors, including
Zelter. Like Felix who was born in 1809, Fanny showed prodigious musical ability as a child and began to write music. Visitors to the Mendelssohn household in the early 1820s, including
Ignaz Moscheles and
Sir George Smart, were equally impressed by both siblings. However, she was limited by prevailing attitudes of the time against women, attitudes apparently shared by her father, who was tolerant, rather than supportive, of her activities as a composer. On the other hand, Felix was very supportive of her, as a composer and a performer. Today, most people even think that Fanny helped Felix compose by criticizing his pieces. Her father wrote to her in 1820 'Music will perhaps become his [i.e. Felix's] profession, while for
you it can and must be only an ornament'.
In 1829, after a courtship of several years, she married the
painter Wilhelm Hensel who was supportive of her composing. Subsequently, her works were often played alongside her brother's at the family home in
Berlin in the concerts which were held there.
Her public debut at the piano came in 1838, when she played her brother's
Piano Concerto No. 1.
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Grave of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel in Berlin |
Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel died in
Berlin in 1847 of complications from a
stroke suffered while rehearsing one of her brother's
oratorios, 'The First Walpurgis Night'. In recent years, her music has become better known thanks to concert performances and a number of
CDs being released on labels such as
Hyperion and
CPO. Her reputation has also been advanced by those researching female musical creativity, of which she is one of the relatively few exemplars in the early 19th century.
Fanny composed over 450 pieces of music. (see article:
List of compositions by Fanny Mendelssohn). Her compositions include a
piano trio and several books of solo
piano pieces and
songs. A number of her songs were originally published under Felix's name in his
opus 8 and 9 collections. One of these songs , 'Italy', was a favorite of Queen Victoria, who thought Felix had written it. Her piano works are often in the manner of songs, and carry the name
Lieder ohne Worte (
Songs without Words). This style of piano work was most successfully developed by Felix Mendelssohn, though some modern scholars assert that Fanny may have preceded him in the genre.
Fanny's son Sebastian Hensel edited the family correspondence as 'The Mendelssohn Family 1729-1847' (tr. into English, 4th revised edition 1884) which still remains an important source of information about Fanny, Felix and their relatives.
Fanny's correspondence with Felix has been translated into English and edited by Marcia Citron; 'The letters of Fanny Hensel to Felix Mendelssohn'(New York, 1987).
R. Larry Todd's 'Mendelssohn - A Life in Music' (Oxford 2003) ISBN 0195110439 is the most recent comprehensive survey of Felix and contains much information about Fanny.
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FannyHensel.de - comprehensive site
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Hensel-Biography - some notes about Fanny and her family
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Hensel
