My answer to the BIG Question
"Life and art are not two different things." ~ Felix Mendelssohn
A brief History of Felix Mendelssohn:
Felix Jakob Ludwig Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was a German composer born in Hamburg, 3rd of February 1809, (and died on the 4th of November 1847, Leipzig) - the son of Abraham and Leah Mendelssohn, and a descendant from the famous Jewish philosopher - Moses Mendelssohn (most well-known for his acts against anti – Semitism). In 1812 Felix, his parents and his older sister Fanny, moved to Berlin, Germany, where Abraham was employed as a banker to fund the family. At the same time, the family were all Baptized and converted to Protestantism from Judaism in search for less discrimination.
Felix Mendelssohn’s music education started with his mother who taught him and his elder sister piano. Later, in 1816, while visiting Paris (at the time and still to this day known as the ‘City of Art’), he started properly leaning piano from French Pianist and Composer Marie Bigot (most well known for her compositions of Sonatas and etudes). A year later he began to study music formally in composition (his future life career) with famous Composer and Classical critic Carl Friedrich Zelter and piano with Ludwig Berger. Though much of Felix Mendelssohn’s early life may seem like being completely devoted to music, he enjoyed and spent his free time trying in many different other co-curricular activities such as drawing and painting, not to mention he also had a keen interest for learning many new languages. As shown his personality was cultivated by a broad learning of arts which achieved him a scholarship to the Sing Akademie Music Academy
Every Sunday his father invited famous Musicians to the house to play for Mendelssohn and Fanny, to help expand their already expert knowledge of music and composition, and to try out pieces that Felix had already composed as a child. At the Sing Akademie Music Academy (which he joined in 1819), he steadily wrote compositions, quite efficiently – for example in the year 1820 alone he published two piano sonatas, a solo violin sonata, a few short songs, a male vocal quartet piece, a cantata, and amazingly even a short opera.
In 1822 for the first time Mendelssohn’s compositions took to the stage. In the same year he composed many more pieces such as Piano Quartet in C Minor. He also wrote Symphony's for his very own private orchestra.
The next few years of Felix Mendelssohn’s life were mostly travelling all around Europe, greeting many other musician’s and composer’s and even poets. He was now one of Britain’s most favored composers. In 1836 he met Cecile Jeanrenaud whom he married a year later, and together they were parents of five children.
In 1844 Mendelssohn’s health began to deteriorate. Three years later the fact that his sister died only made his health worse dramatically, and although he went on a holiday to Switzerland for his health, when he came back, he died in Leipzig (due to exhaustion and overwork), on November 4th, 1847 at the age of thirty – eight.
Why I chose Felix Mendelssohn:
"I know perfectly well that no musician can make his thoughts or his talents different to what Heaven has made them; but I also know that if Heaven had given him good ones, he must also be able to develop them properly." ~ Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn is no doubt one of the greatest composers and musicians of all time, and I believe that it is not only his works and compositions that we can learn from but himself as a man. In the music society he is well-known for working ridiculously hard on his composition’s, and eventually worked himself to death. From the age of nine Mendelssohn knew that he was going to journey on a musical career, so he started to put all his effort into his studies – not only music, but also other subjects such as visual arts and languages. After working hard to enter the Sing Académie Music Academy he continued his life and career with a devotion to what he did. He often managed to get many musical pieces done within the period of a week, though that is not to say he didn’t encounter troubles in composing. For example, the Scottish Symphony devoted to Queen Victoria took him fourteen years to compose yet he still managed to do it in the end through determination and perseverance. I think for a person perform these qualities are amazing, and people who are constantly showing these attributes are unreal. Another reason that I Chose Mendelssohn is because of his relationship to my life. It is not rare that I play one of his pieces on the French Horn, such as the Nocturne from the Shakespeare play a Midsummer night's dream, or a Song Without Words Op. 109.
Why Felix Mendelssohn can be defined as notable:
"Ever since I began to compose, I have remained true to my starting principle: not to write a page because no matter what public, or what pretty girl wanted it to be thus or thus; but to write solely as I myself thought best, and as it gave me pleasure." ~ Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn, was a key figure in the European 18th century music. Was he not only known for his prodigious talent for composition and musicianship, but also for being a person who was humble, kind and truthful.
Mendelssohn played a significant role in the musical industry to this day. He is perhaps most famous for ‘The Revival of Bach’. In the 19th century, Bach’s (A composer that is one of the most recognized today) music was dead and his name was never heard of, until Mendelssohn introduced it to the Europe. In 1829 Mendelssohn decided to conduct a concert full of Bach’s works - an act like this would’ve taken tremendous amounts of courage to perform as there is every possibility that the audience may not enjoy this 18th century music, and Mendelssohn’s popularity may be ruined. In fact, it was quite the opposite though.
Mendelssohn is also famous for making his own composition style – the Romantic-classical style – a paradoxical mix between two seemingly opposite composition forms, Romantic and Classical.
Romantic music is from the Romantic era in the 19th century. It is one of the ‘off-branches’ of the concept of Romanticism – artistic movements and intellectual fantasy. Romantic Music usually contains much Rubato – a technique were the musician disregards the set tempo and expresses more freely, though without altering the overall pace. In romantic composing there aren’t many or any rules to follow.
Classical music is described as European traditional music, written in the Classical period lasting from 1750 to 1830. Classical music pieces are all symmetrical, meaning the end is the same as the beginning of a piece, proven by forms developed in the classical period such as Symphony (A piece that includes the whole orchestra), a Concerto (A piece starring a solo instrument, being accompanied by an ensemble of sort – usually an orchestra) and a Sonata (Identical formatting to a Concerto but is for a solo instrument such as string instruments of other instruments with a piano or harpsichord, and both of the parts are just as equal). In classical music the time signature and beat are not allowed to change and key changes are usually kept to a minimum or written in with naturals, sharps and flats.
As you may be able to see, these to composition styles are virtually opposites, but Mendelssohn managed to craft them together in a way, that the balance of both sounds so perfect, that it became a whole new composition style.
In conclusion, to answer the big question, Felix Mendelssohn can be easily considered as a notable person. He composes his music for the love of himself and is so devoted to it, that he’s came up with a whole new section of music. He also had the courage to bring other Composer’s (not just Bach) back from being forgotten. Felix Mendelssohn truly is an amazing person.
"People usually complain that music is so ambiguous, and what they are supposed to think when they hear it is so unclear, while words are understood by everyone. But for me it is exactly the opposite...what the music I love expresses to me are thoughts not to indefinite for words, but rather too definite." ~ Felix Mendelssohn