Fanny Hensel: The Other MendelssohnFanny Hensel (1805-1847) was an extraordinary musician and astute observer of European culture. Previously she was known mainly as the granddaughter of philosopher Moses Mendelssohn and the sister of composer Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, yet Hensel is now recognized as the leading woman composer of the nineteenth century. She produced well over four hundred compositions and excelled in short, lyrical piano pieces and songs of epigrammatic intensity, but the expressive range of her art also accommodated challenging virtuoso piano and chamber works, orchestral music, and cantatas written in imitation of J.S. Bach. Her gender and position in society restricted her from opportunities afforded her brother, however, who himself quickly rose to an international career of the first rank. Hensel's own sphere of influence revolved around her Berlin residence, where she directed concerts that attracted such celebrities as Franz Liszt, Clara Schumann, Clara Novello, and her brother Felix. In this semi-public space, shared with exclusive audiences drawn from the elite of Berlin society, Hensel found her own voice as pianist, conductor and composer. For much of her life, she composed for her own pleasure, and her brother ranked her songs among the very best examples of the genre. Felix silently incorporated several of the songs into his own early publications, while a few other songs were published anonymously. Hensel began releasing her works under her own name in 1847, only to die of a stroke as the first reviews of her music began to appear. Tragically, the vast majority of her music was forgotten for a century and a half before its recent rediscovery. Renowned Mendelssohn scholar R. Larry Todd now offers a compelling, full account of Hensel's life and music, her extraordinary relationship with her brother, her position in one of Berlin's most eminent families, and her courageous struggle to define her own public voice as a composer [Publisher description]. |
Contents
Musical Ornaments 18191821 | 28 |
Sibling Rivalry and Separation 18221824 | 56 |
Leipzigerstrasse No 3 18251828 | 85 |
Copyright | |
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Abraham Allegro Allegro molto Andante appeared April arpeggiations artistic August Bach's bars bass Beethoven Berlin brother cantata Cécile celebrated chorale chords chorus chromatic Citron composed composition counterpoint cycle Devrient diary duet E-flat major Eduard Devrient example F-sharp Fanny Hensel Fanny Mendelssohn Fanny to Felix Fanny's Fanny's music February Felix Mendelssohn Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Felix to Fanny figure final French fugue G major G minor genre German Goethe Goethe's harmonic Heine Henriette Ibid J. S. Bach July June Klein Klingemann later Leipzig Leipzigerstrasse letter lieder Lowenthal-Hensel Major H-U melody Mendelssohn Archiv Mendelssohn Bartholdy Minor H-U movement musician November October opera orchestra Overture painting performed pianist piano pieces piano sonata Piano Trio played poem poet Prussian published Rebecka Schubert Schumann score Sebastian Hensel setting siblings sister sonata form song soprano String Quartet style Symphony Tagebücher tion tonal tonic verses visited Weissweiler Wilhelm Hensel Zelter