Biography (read more)
Fanny Mendelssohn (later Fanny Hensel) was a German composer and pianist of the early Romantic period, born in Hamburg and based for most of her life in Berlin, where she led an influential salon and was the elder sister of composer Felix Mendelssohn. Constrained by family expectations that discouraged public careers for women, she nonetheless composed over 450 works, including a piano trio, a string quartet, the piano cycle Das Jahr, and more than 250 songs, several of which were published under her brother’s name. She died in Berlin in 1847 at the age of 41 after suffering a stroke while rehearsing one of Felix’s works.
Long overshadowed by her brother, Fanny Mendelssohn has since the late twentieth century been reassessed as a composer of significant individual merit, with scholars citing her career as evidence of the social barriers women faced in gaining recognition for their work. Renewed interest has brought her music into concert halls and recordings, museums dedicated to her have opened in Hamburg and Leipzig, and she is now regarded as one of the important compositional voices of the early Romantic era.
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Repertoire
String Quartet in E-Flat Major: I. Adagio ma non troppo
3 Duette auf Texte von Heinrich Heine: II. Aus meinen Tränen sprießen— Barbara Bonney
Performed by Barbara Bonney
3 Duette auf Texte von Heinrich Heine: III. Im wunderschönen Monat Mai— Barbara Bonney
Performed by Barbara Bonney
3 Duette auf Texte von Heinrich Heine: I. Wenn ich in deine Augen sehe— Barbara Bonney
Performed by Barbara Bonney
Easter sonata in A Major (1828) – Allegro Assai Moderato— Éric Heidsieck
Performed by Éric Heidsieck
Easter sonata in A Major (1828) 1. Largo E Molto Espressivo— Éric Heidsieck
Performed by Éric Heidsieck