Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809–1847) was a German Romantic composer, pianist, and conductor whose work helped shape early 19th-century classical music. Born in Hamburg into the prominent Mendelssohn family, he showed prodigious musical talent from a young age and received intensive training in Berlin with Carl Friedrich Zelter, among others. His early reputation was established through a combination of chamber music, songs, and orchestral works.

Mendelssohn played a pivotal role in the Bach revival. In 1829 he conducted the first performance in almost a century of Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, an event that helped reintroduce Bach to a wide audience. His own mature oeuvre spans symphonies, concertos, overtures, choral works, and piano pieces. Notable works include the overtures A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Fingal’s Cave (The Hebrides), the Violin Concerto in E minor, and the Italian and Scottish symphonies. He also wrote the oratorios St. Paul (1836) and Elijah (1846), as well as a large body of piano music including the Songs Without Words and the Lyric Pieces.

In 1843 Mendelssohn founded the Conservatory of Music in Leipzig and served as a leading conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra, shaping European musical life. His music is characterized by clarity, lyricism, and formal refinement, blending Bachian counterpoint with Romantic expressive language. Mendelssohn died in Leipzig at age 38. His legacy includes a lasting Bach revival influence, a major educational institution, and a widely performed catalog that remains central to orchestral, chamber, and piano repertoires.