Fanny Mendelssohn Research Paper

Fanny Mendelssohn

Fanny Mendelssohn was one of the greatest female composers to have ever lived. She was born on November 14th, 1805 in Hamburg, Germany. Fanny was a romantic composer and, though only few were published in her life, she composed over 500 works including lieder and piano pieces (Stanton, 1984). Fanny was the oldest of four children and the sister of the well-known composer Felix Mendelssohn, with whom she was very close to (Estrella, 2011). Her grandfather was Moses Mendelssohn, a very popular philosopher of the time (Estrella, 2011). Fanny was extremely talented from childhood, but unfortunately was limited due to the negative attitudes toward women in musical professions of the time (Estrella, 2011). As a child, Fanny was trained on the piano by her mother. She once performed twenty four preludes from Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Well-tempered Clavier” from memory (Stanton, 1984). She was also influenced when she began to study under other composers. In 1816, Fanny began to compose with Marie Bigot in Paris. Later, in 1818, she went on to study composition under Carl Friedrich Zelter (Estrella, 2011). She wrote over 200 lieders, including the famous “Swan Song” (Estrella, 2011). She also wrote over 200 fugues, preludes,
and sonatas. Later in her life, she began to write choral music, including the famous cantata “Oratorium nach den Bildern der Bibel” (Estrella, 2011). There are many interesting facts to be learned about Fanny as well. It is rumored that when Felix, her brother, played for Queen Victoria, the queen was very impressed. The Queen went on to say that her favorite was “Italien,” which Felix admitted was the work of Fanny (“Essentials of Music Composers”, 2011). Fanny was also extremely close to her brother, Felix. Felix idolized Fanny and would seek her out for musical advice and approval on his own compositions (FMH, 2009). In fact, when Fanny passed away in 1847, it is said that Felix later became depressed and passed away six months later (Estrella, 2011). In 1829, Fanny married Wilhelm Hensel, a successful artist and painter (Stanton, 1984). They had one son together, Sebastian, whom they named after Fanny’s favorite composer, Johann Sebastian Bach (Estrella, 2011). Fanny’s musical talent matched, if not surpassed that of her brother’s, but even if Fanny had wanted to pursue a career in music it would have been nearly impossible.
Societal attitudes of the time prevented women from holding professions in music. Even her father discouraged her. In an 1820 letter to Fanny, he tells her that, while music could be a career for Felix, "for you it can and must only be an ornament, never the basis of your being and doing. (FMH, 2009)." He encouraged her to take on the more “conventional” role of staying at home and bearing children. A year later, Fanny married Wilhelm Hensel. She did take on the acceptable role of women at the time, but still continued to compose over 400 more works (FMH,
2009). On May 1847, after rehearsing her brother’s cantata “Die erste Walpurgisnacht” for a performance, Fanny collapsed and passed away at the age of forty-one, due to a stroke. Fortunately, she lived long enough to experience changing attitudes towards women in musical professions, which aided in a number of her works having appeared in print, and thus allowed her to fulfill her goals of being seen as a serious composer (FMH, 2009). Since Fanny was one of the first female composers to ever have work published, she set a precedent for the emergence of women into a male-dominated profession (FMH, 2009). Much of Fanny’s work is unknown because most of her music was not published, but it is very apparent that Fanny Mendelssohn was and still is one of the most notable and talented female composers of all time.