Composers Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn

This course is about one of the more loved and appreciated composers of the Romantic period — Felix Mendelssohn, and his equally talented, and yet to be discovered sister and composer, Fanny Mendelssohn. While Felix Mendelssohn’s music has been widely popular and appreciated during his life time and until this very day, Fanny Mendelssohn’s music has been only recently discovered and identified as hers. The 19th century was a time when it was not acceptable for women to be composers, not to mention recognized and accomplished.

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While both Fanny and Felix received the same musical education as children, Felix was encouraged to pursue a career in music, yet Fanny was told that she could never become more than an amateur. Fanny did not accept this verdict, and with the encouragement of her husband, she continued to compose music. Fanny pursued her love for music by playing the piano, conducting her choir, and performing her own music during Sunday concerts at her home.

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During her life time, some of Fanny’s music, including several of her Songs Without Words, were published under her brother’s name. Consequently, until recently these works were considered to be Felix’s, and all of the credit and recognition went to him. In this course we will analyze and get to know one of Fanny’s works for piano solo called Lied and Lenau from her collection of Songs Without Words, a song that was considered to be Felix’s. While it’s credited to her brother Felix, is was Fanny who began to compose Lieder, but for piano solo. The Lied at the time was one of the most popular and favorable genres for composers to write for voice and piano. It was Fanny Mendelssohn who came up with the idea of assigning both the voice and piano parts to a single instrumental work for piano solo. We will also analyze Felix’s Venetian Gondola Song, volume 2, Op. 30 from his own collection of Songs Without Words. Through the analysis of both of Fanny’s and Felix’s works — Songs Without Words, we will explore their contribution to the development and evolution of this genre. We will discuss these two works through close examination of their various music elements such as texture, melody, form, harmony, key/scale, orchestration, instrumentation, word painting, and more.

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In this course we will also explore Felix Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony No. 4, the fourth movement — Saltarello, and discuss the extra musical origins and influences on this movement, and how Felix incorporated those ideas into his music. We will discover some of Felix’s hidden artistic talent, that enabled him to express himself at times when music wasn’t available to him.

By the end of this course, you will have a better understanding of what makes Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn one of the more lovable and popular composers of the 19th century, and their significant contribution to the development of music elements and aesthetics during the Romantic era. This course is for music lovers, beginners, intermediates, and musicians who would like to deepen their understanding of Mendelsohn's musical signature.