Essay On Felix Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn was a German Romantic composer, pianist and conductor. His incredible talented started as a child and from there flourished and gave him a place among the best composers of the 1800s. Felix Mendelssohn’s work included symphonies, concertos, oratories, piano and chamber music. From an early age he worked so persistently at what he loved to do so much. Many people cannot name any of his works but there is one in particular that everyone has heard is his “Wedding March” from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” has been heard at many weddings.

Felix Mendelssohn was actually born Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy in Hamburg, Germany, on February 3, 1809. His parents were Jewish. Felix Mendelssohn’s father Abraham Mendelssohn was a banker and his mother Lea Salomon was a member of the Itzig family. His grandfather was the German Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. Felix Mendelssohn had a brother Paul Mendelssohn and sisters Fanny Mendelssohn and Rebecca Mendelssohn. Although Felix Mendelssohn’s family was grateful of their Jewish heritage they decided to abandon their Jewish religion and converted to Christians. When Felix Mendelssohn was two years old the family moved to Berlin. It was in Berlin that Felix Mendelssohn became a child prodigy.

Felix Mendelssohn’s mother started giving him piano lessons at the age of six. He was tutored by Marie Bigot and he studied compositions with Carl Friedrich Zelter. Studying with Carl Friedrich turned out to be a huge encouragement on Felix Mendelssohn’s future musical career. Felix Mendelssohn’s conservative fondness in music was developed by Carl Friedrich Zelter’s taste in music. He was his inspired by the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, an...

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...well-known child prodigy that was often compared to Mozart. Although his life was cut so short, Felix Mendelssohn lived his life doing what he loved to do. Felix Mendelssohn once said

“People usually complain that music is so ambiguous, and what they are supposed to think when they hear it is so unclear, while words are understood by everyone. But for me it is exactly the opposite...what the music I love expresses to me are thoughts not to indefinite for words, but rather too definite.” ( FM Quotes)

His great musical talent allotted him the ability to make major influences to the expansion of German music. Music admirers all over have learned to appreciate his works. Felix Mendelssohn succeeded in setting himself apart as one of the first important Romantic composers of the nineteenth century.