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Happy 200th, Felix Mendelssohn
by Scott Gilbreath ~ February 3rd, 2009
Felix Mendelssohn was born on this day in 1809. His fortunes in popular esteem have had their ups and downs.
He was thought of as a genius during his lifetime, then thought of as too old-fashioned by the late-Romantic, Austro-Germanic musical scene, but hailed in Victorian England. During World War II, Nazi Germany tried to thoroughly bury his reputation, while in America and elsewhere in the last half of the 20th century his music was generally treated as being lightweight fluff, mostly because of overuse of a small number of pieces.
Today, his most highly regarded works are his Octet for strings, Op. 20 (written when he was 16!) and his Violin Concerto, Op. 64.
I’m sure it’s terribly unfashionable these days, but another of my favourites is Symphony No. 5 (”Reformation”), Op. 107. The fourth movement incorporates Martin Luther’s great hymn Ein feste Burg.
Check out the short excerpts from many of his works posted at The Allmusic Blog.
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