The Life of Mendelssohn

This biography traces Mendelssohn's development from dazzling child prodigy to renowned composer and conductor.

Peter Mercer-Taylor (Author)

9780521639729, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 September 2000

248 pages, 17 b/w illus. 1 map
21.7 x 14 x 1.9 cm, 0.345 kg

"...elegantly presented and visually appealing. Mercer-Taylor writes clearly and engagingly." Journal of Musicological Research

Famous for a handful of compositions that continue to sparkle with originality, Mendelssohn, as conductor and scholar, was also one of the principal architects of the musical canon that has underpinned concert life to this day. Mendelssohn was one of music's greatest child prodigies. This book roots his early years firmly in the cultural and familial histories that shaped his childhood: the rise of his grandfather, Moses, from obscure poverty to international renown as a philosopher; his aunts' leading role in turn-of-the-century salon culture; his father's career as one of Berlin's most successful bankers. At the same time, this book confronts head-on the myth that Mendelssohn's was a happy, untroubled existence. The composer's last decade was marked by ceaseless psychological turmoil, torn between a staggering performance schedule and a yearning to dedicate his life exclusively to the wife and children he adored, and to the compositional drive that was too often neglected.

List of illustrations
Acknowledgements
1. Beginnings
2. The prodigy
3. First maturity
4. The Grand Tour
5. Frustrations in Berlin and Düsseldorf
6. Scaling the heights in Leipzig
7. More frustrations in Berlin
8. Endings
Notes
Further reading
Index.

Subject Areas: Individual composers & musicians, specific bands & groups [AVH]