Reyes 1

Cindy Reyes

Music History I

Dr. Bomgardner

15 October 2018

The Romanticism of Felix Mendelssohn

Despite his legacy suffering from erasure by the Nazi regime and the destruction of

compositional works, Felix Mendelssohn still remains as one of the most influential German

composers with his influence on the musical world during his lifetime and the lasting sentimental

impact after his premature death.

Born on February 3, 1809 to Lea and Abraham Mendelssohn in Hamburg, Germany,

Felix Mendelssohn would become known as one of the most famous composers of the Romantic

era, exhibiting characteristics of a well-rounded and trained musician and artist. Though he was

born in Hamburg, his family moved to Berlin two years after his birth due to French occupation.

There, he spent most of his childhood learning the piano alongside his sister, with his mother as

his first instructor, then training with Ludwig Berger, and studied composition under Carl

Friedrich Zelter, both accomplished musicians in their own right. During his schooling,

Mendelssohn studied not only music, but the arts as well, where he excelled in landscape

painting. During his childhood, Mendelssohn wrote 5 operas, 11 symphonies and multiple

concerti, sonatas, and fugues, most of which were lost during World War II (Lockspeiser). Early

on, Mendelssohn began to prove himself as a talented musician, having been proudly shown to

J.W. von Goethe by his piano instructor at the age of twelve (Lockspeiser). Until the end of

Goethe’s life, they remained friends, as shown by Mendelssohn’s dedication of his Piano Quartet

No. 3 to the aging writer. At the age of 17, Mendelssohn premiered his now-famous Overture to
 Reyes 2

Midsummer Night’s Dream, which stands alone, the opera never having been completed by the

composer. Mendelssohn’s life ended prematurely on November 4, 1847 due to a supposed

stroke, though many speculate his death was caused by grief from the death of his beloved sister,

Fanny Mendelssohn.

Apart from composing, Mendelssohn was an accomplished conductor and music director,

sparking cultural movements in many places through the music he directed. As conductor,

Mendelssohn chose Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, the first performance since

his death, “thus inaugurating the Bach revival of the 19th century” (Lockspeiser). After

presenting the piece, many audiences realized the power of Bach and began to demand at a

higher rate performances of his works. Mendelssohn also conducted at the Singakademie and

with the London Philharmonic Society. His time with Gewandhaus Orchestra in 1835 left a

lasting imprint in Germany’s history. His performances with the orchestra “raised the standard of

orchestral playing (and) made Leipzig the musical capital of Germany” (Lockspeiser). His

introduction of rarely performed pieces combined with his musical direction placed Leipzig on

the map for the musical world. In 1833, Mendelssohn was appointed as Music Director for the

Düsseldorf Church, where he introduced Beethoven and Cherubini masses and Bach cantatas.

While leading the church’s music department, Mendelssohn began his first oratorio entitled St.

Paul, which he promised his dying father to complete. While working to boost Germany’s

musical presence to the world, Mendelssohn also proved himself time and time again as a leader

and reviver in German history.

While Mendelssohn remains less played than other greats such as Beethoven and

Mozart, he created waves on the musical world that no other composers can claim. Most of
 Reyes 3

Mendelssohn’s works are seldom played anywhere outside of Europe, but every so often, pieces

will push through and amaze worldwide crowds once again. His Overture to Midsummer Night’s

Dream, described as “typical of the composer’s deftness of touch in its evocation of the fairy

world of the play” (“Felix Mendelssohn”). Within the piece, Mendelssohn develops scherzo, a

musical movement that keeps the tone bouncy and playful. The composer was known for his

manipulation of music to showcase the emotion and overall aesthetic for the location portrayed

in the piece, fictional or not. Most of his compositions, lieder or overture, contained light touches

in the music that point towards an ethereal theme, mainly associated with fairies. Despite

wanting to move away from the “deeper Romantic meaning,” Mendelssohn normally came

circling back due to his process of being influenced by his trips to other countries (Lockspeiser).

He continued this light touch in his String Octet in E Flat Major and continued this tradition

through the rest of his career.

Another aspect of the Romantic era is the passion written within the piece itself.

Mendelssohn’s sister, Fanny, was a collaborator and influencer for many of his pieces. Most

famously, Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture was directly influenced by their letters, specifically

when he visited the Scottish Highlands with Karl Klingemann. While gazing at Fingal’s Cave,

Mendelssohn wrote part of the melody line and later completed a huge portion of the final piece

in a letter addressed to Fanny (Todd). He wrote of all the problems he saw in his own work,

bouncing ideas off of her and seeking advice, “The middle part, forte in D major, is very stupid,

and savours more of counterpoint than of oil [ie engine oil in the steamers in which he travelled]

and seagulls and dead fish, and it ought to be the very reverse” (Carpenter). As is traditional in

the Romantic era, the Hebrides Overture was written as a stand-alone concert, instead of a

prelude to an opera. The piece is a tone poem, where the instrumentation reflects the title of the
 Reyes 4

piece. Stephen Carpenter states, “the calmness of the oscillating accompanying semi-quaver

figures that grow out of the opening theme are interrupted by the rising surges in the cellos and

basses which give a strong feeling of a sea swell”. Mendelssohn gave life to the piece by using

the natural sounds and ambience of the ocean around him. The basses and cellos provide the

structural support and foundation for the rest of the instruments to display the chaotic nature of

the ocean. Each instrument section symbolizes different parts of Mendelssohn’s journey to the

Scottish Highlands, and keeps the representation all throughout. Analyzing the theory behind the

piece, Mendelssohn uses parallel key switches to “reflect the primitive bleak beauty of the many

islands in the Hebrides that affected him so extraordinarily.” (Carpenter). Starting in B minor, he

transitions to D major and back to B minor, unusual for Mendelssohn, who was known as an

“observer of rules” (Carpenter). The use of the full orchestra develops the idea of a vast

landscape, with sudden swells and punctuations in the music reflecting the seagulls.

Mendelssohn even included the sounds of the steamboat he was on through the smooth flow and

murkiness of the bass instruments. Every aspect of his trip was given its spotlight in his piece,

showing the love and peace of mind he achieved after visiting.

Another aspect of the Romantic era is the heavy influence of nature within each of

Mendelssohn’s pieces. His vocal pieces provide a clearer interpretation of nature’s influence on

ideas such as love. Within his song, Der Blumenstrauss, the narrator describes a woman’s

process of picking and sending a bouquet to her future lover. Mendelssohn labels the tempo as

grazioso, making the piece portray “a graceful and delicate specimen of sentimentality”

(Youens). Throughout, the lyrics are sweet with dynamics and piano accompaniment following

suit. During certain lines where uncertainty is expressed, such as “und seid ihr denn

Frühlingsboten verkündend was stets so neu,” accidentals such as B and E Sharp are introduced,
 Reyes 5

subtly changing the sound of the music to a darker mood (Mendelssohn). Adding in accidentals

not from the original key of A major moves the audience away from the flowing lines that

naturally fit into the key. They create an audible difference that signifies the uncertainty that the

character feels. During lines directly speaking about her future lover, the accidentals are gone

and the last note of the phrase ends on tonic, resolving the line musically as well as figuratively.

The tonic note creates the peace the character feels when thinking of her lover and her knowing

that he will always love her. The lines that obviously speak of her lover and their emotions that

match each other’s are repeated at the end of each section of the piece. She is assured that “ihn,

der mich liebt so treu” and that his words equal when “der süßeste Frühling spricht”

(Mendelssohn). Throughout the piece, the singer’s line moves up the scale until the lyrics

mention the emotions that the woman feels, whether through personification of the flowers or an

outright admission of hers. Once the line reaches the peak of the scale and mentions the

emotions, the line settles back down the scale as if representing a sigh that the lover expresses

while building up her anxieties then realizing her fears are unreal. The movement of each line

adds another layer of hidden emotion of her imagining his possible rejection, then settling into a

calmed state where she knows for sure that he never would. Mendelssohn used simple melodies

and rhythms to display the simplicity of newfound love, while also managing to hide underlying

themes of instant doubt that the mind plays using minimal melodic changes.

Another aspect of the Romantic era that Mendelssohn mastered and took full advantage

of is the dramatic nature of many pieces of secular music. In his piece, “Neue Liebe,” he repeats

whole sections to ensure the audience is listening to the majesty of the elves he is describing. He

emphasizes the horns and bells of the elves and the speed which they are traveling at through this

repetition alongside suspended notes that differ from the rest of the song. Most of the lyrics are
 Reyes 6

quickly sung using eighth and sixteenth notes, but when repeating, certain words are suspended

using half and quarter notes tied together. These emphasized words include “reiten,” “lauten,”

“rasch,” and “gezogen,” all words speaking to the speed of the elves. Mendelssohn frequently

referenced elves in his pieces, captivated by the ethereal nature of the legends and obsessed with

the stories associated with them. He displayed their fairy-nature in his music by keeping the

rhythm upbeat but the melody dark and foreboding, representing the duality of fairies and the

tricks they played to lure victims. The lyrics within “Neue Liebe” lure the audience into the

captivating nature of elves then leave them with an ominous message of warning. 10 of the 12

lines describe the beauty of the horns and bells playing and the magnificence of the horses

running through the forest, until the last 2 lines sweep the rug from under the character’s feet and

bring about a warning of death. Most legends about elves speak of the sudden changes in their

moods, much of a conversation held with them will be about future plans until the elf shifts and

suddenly they predict a death. Mendelssohn brings attention to the sudden warning by

completely changing the melody, slowing the music as the queen of the elves rides past the

character. The character experiences a slowing of time, fully emphasizing the majesty of the

queen and her power over the character’s perception of her. The phrase “im vorüberreiten” is

repeated, but elongated and drawn out, displaying the queen’s power and the perceived slowing

of time. During the last line where the character questions death, accidentals are introduced,

changing the overall mood of the song from wondering and curious to dismal and foreboding.

Mendelssohn fully displays his knowledge and mastery of using legends and stories to influence

his music and the tone that is shown throughout.

Mendelssohn wrote not only secular music, but sacred music as well. One of his most

popular sacred pieces is Elijah, an oratorio about the prophet Elijah within the Old Testament.
 Reyes 7

Mendelssohn brought about the idea of writing an oratorio after becoming obsessed with J.S.

Bach’s oratorios and wanting to write one of his own. The New York Philharmonic Orchestra

performed Elijah, where the director described the duality of Mendelssohn’s handling of the

story. He presents an Old Testament story with a New Testament style of retelling. Some

“considered that it denotes Mendelssohn’s re-establishment of a connection to his Jewish

heritage” (Keller). Due to his early baptism and changing of his last name, Mendelssohn lost a

part of his Jewish heritage. Later in his life, his music shows a movement back to Jewish culture.

Elijah displays Mendelssohn’s obsession with opposites. Originally, Mendelssohn pictured the

character of Elijah to be the perfect character, “powerful, zealous, but also harsh and angry and

saturnine” (Mendelssohn). He displays this duality with both soft, sentimental pieces and

aggressive, loud, and dramatic pieces. The chorus in the oratorio help transition the characters in

between emotions to make the switch less jarring. The transitions also help with the overall

argument that Elijah tries to solve, the choice between two gods, Jehovah and Baal. The vocal

line proclaiming God as the true god progresses through a major triad, but settles down a scale of

tritones, signifying the fight between god’s people and those following the King. These scales

open the beginning of the entire work, jarring the audience and instantly cluing them into a

conflict. Mendelssohn uses every opportunity he can to signify as much conflict as the fight

between different gods could ever possibly need. He modulates to an ear-pleasing key to

obviously show the god that the audience and Elijah are standing behind. He moves from C

minor to C major during certain lines that directly speak of God, a motif that continually appears

throughout the oratorio. Keeping the melody surrounding God in a key without accidentals keeps

the music pure, sometimes leaving the audience unaware, only hearing the pleasing sound of

flowing music. Mendelssohn has already proven himself a master of the fugue and chorale, but
 Reyes 8

he moves away from the traditional forms for his oratorio, again mixing the tradition of the Old

Testament with the updated styles of the New Testament. Mendelssohn swayed between

tradition and modern styles, all while conveying the story of Elijah to please the audience.

Despite the large number of pieces that have survived, many more of Mendelssohn’s

works have disappeared or remain incomplete. Due to his jewish lineage, Mendelssohn’s pieces

were forbidden during the Nazi regime, requiring many years to rediscover and assure they were

completely recovered. The German composer with openly anti-Semitic views, Richard Wagner,

set out to purposefully destroy Mendelssohn’s reputation as one of the greatest German

composers. In order to boost his own reputation, Wagner first had to defame Mendelssohn, and

did so by changing the perception of his music. Germans viewed native-born composer’s music

as strong and full of pride. Wagner began his campaign and spread wildly that Mendelssohn’s

music was “effeminate and vague” (Service). With the already established sound of German

composers, Mendelssohn soon became a thing of the past and his music dismissed as inferior,

while Wagner’s music, which was louder and more aggressive, became a supposed better

representation of German composers. Even though Mendelssohn was baptized as a child and the

rest of his family adopted the Bartholdy name to assimilate, he continued to use his jewish-like

surname, contributing to Wagner’s attack on his reputation. Adding to the lower-ranking of

Mendelssohn, his music was seen as an exclusive listen for the wealthy and powerful. His

oratorios were popular to the public, but his more special pieces were reserved for the British

monarchy. He frequently gave private concerts to the Queen, since she was able to sing a

soprano part. His public performances were affordable to the wealthy and his fame relied on the

British due to the Queen’s love of his music. He was officially labeled as her favorite composer,

but in the end, audiences outside of the British Isles bypassed his music for more well-known
 Reyes 9

composers. His music that he composed to be played by musician of all levels, Songs Without

Words, was one of the few pieces that most of the public could enjoy without the worry of

affordability. Due to his popularity with amateur musicians, George Bernard Shaw believed his

fame came from accessibility, not because of his talent. He stated Mendelssohn "was not in the

foremost rank of great composers” despite having some of the most popular sacred operas

(Service). Mendelssohn has fallen down the list of composers worthy of fame and recognition,

but more recently his works have begun to shine and gain him the glory he deserved. This late

applause adds more salt to the wound of Mendelssohn’s early death.

Despite the reduction of Mendelssohn’s reputation and the abrupt end to his life, his

legacy impacts the musical world now more than ever. He followed Bach and revived the

support for him after his death by conducting the St. Matthew Passion. At the Singakademie on

March 11, 1829, Mendelssohn’s ethereal conducting revived Bach’s pieces to fame and furthered

his career as a conductor. From then on, conducting was seen as an art form, forcing other

composers to improve their own technique to make it more of a show. Due to his involvement in

the Romantic era, Mendelssohn’s pieces often influenced or inspired other art forms. J. M. W.

Turner, a painter who dwelled in the Romantic era, cited Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture as

the reason for his painting, Staffa, Fingal’s Cave. Mendelssohn’s depiction of specific

experiences at Fingal’s Cave helped pull his symphony away from a traditional approach into a

solidly planted Romantic piece. Without Mendelssohn’s detailed and purposeful work, Bach’s

history may still be lost and other works of art would remain unpainted. His captivating

demeanor outlasts defamation done to his name and renews interest in those willing to give

Mendelssohn a chance to prove his talent posthumously. Felix Mendelssohn mostly remains a

hidden gem in the dirt.

Works Cited

Carpenter, Stephen. “Mendelssohn Overture - The Hebrides.” Hebrides Overture

| Mendelssohn | The Hebrides | Scottish Overture, 2015,

www.mendelssohninscotland.com/hebrides-overture.

“Felix Mendelssohn.” Felix Mendelssohn- Bio, Albums, Pictures – Naxos

Classical Music., www.naxos.com/person/Felix_Mendelssohn/24619.htm.

Keller, James. “Notes on the Program.” 2010. PDF.

Lockspeiser, Edward. “Felix Mendelssohn.” Encyclopædia Britannica,

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 21 Feb. 2018, www.britannica.com/

biography/Felix-Mendelssohn.

Maclay, John. “Elijah, Op. 70 (1846).” 27 July 2015. PDF

Mendelssohn, Felix. “Der Blumenstrauss.” Klingemann, Carl. Hal Leonard Corporation, 2003.

Mendelssohn, Felix. “Neue Liebe.” Heine, Heinrich. Hal Leonard Corporation, 2003.

Service, Tom. “Clash of the Composers.” The Guardian, 4 May 2009.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/may/05/felix-mendelssohn-richard-wagner-classical-

music.

Todd, R. Larry. Mendelssohn: The Hebrides and Other Overtures. Cambridge

University Press, 1993.

Youens, Susan. “Mendelssohn: Complete Songs.” Champs Hill Records.