Scan 20
Stokes Encyclopedia Of Music And Musicians Volume Ii, 1908
2 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1was proposed as a candidate for the directorship of the Singakademie in succession to Zelter. Racial antipathy, his early unpopularity with the rank and file of the musicians, and the unwise interference of friends brought about his defeat. He gave three successful public concerts in Berlin, however, began the "Italian" symphony commissioned by the London Philharmonic Society, and was cheered by an invitation to conduct the Lower Rhine Festival at Düsseldorf, 1833. Another visit to London, attended by his usual success as a pianist and the performance of his new symphony, was followed by the festival at Düsseldorf, where his work was so much appreciated that he was engaged as general director of the town at about $450 per annum (600 thalers), an appointment which paved the way for his post at Leipsic as conductor at the GEWANDHAUS, 1835. In Leipsic, with Ferdinand David as concertmeister, Mendelssohn speedily built up the foremost orchestra in Europe. The University of Leipsic gave the degree Dr. Phil., and in 1837 he was asked to conduct the Birmingham Festival. Meantime a professional visit to Frankfort had brought about a meeting with Cécile Charlotte Sophie Jeanrenaud, daughter of a French clergyman, and on Mar. 28, 1837, she became his wife. His best oratorio "St Paul" (Paulus), which he had conducted at the Lower Rhine Festival of the previous year, was given in London in 1837, and later, under his own baton at the Birmingham Festival with great success. Then he hurried back to Leipsic for the beginning of the concert season, devoting himself almost wholly to his duties there for the next few years, although he conducted the festival at Cologne and made short visits to Berlin, Düsseldorf and Frankfort. In 1840 he was instrumental in founding the LEIPSIC CONSERVATORY as well as in erecting a monument to Johann Sebastian Bach in front of the THOMASSCHULE. In 1841 Frederick William IV invited him to return to Berlin as director of the musical section of a proposed Academy of Fine Arts, an offer which Mendelssohn accepted. On his departure, the King of Saxony made him his chapelmaster. A few months later he received the same title from the King of Prussia, and the following summer received the Prussian Ordre pour Merite. The success with which his music to the Greek play "Antigone" was received, a number of excellent concerts, a triumphal engagement in London, and a sixth invitation to conduct the Lower Rhine Festival, failed to restore Mendelssohn's popularity in Berlin. The Academy project proved a failure so far as Mendelssohn and music were concerned, and he asked permission to leave Berlin. The King, however, induced him to accept an appointment as General Music Director of the Domchor. Returning to Leipsic, Mendelssohn established the Conservatory on a secure basis, began his incidental music for "Athalie," "The Tempest," and "Midsummer Night's Dream," and gave the finishing touches to his "Walpurgisnacht." In 1843 he produced Gade's C minor symphony at the Gewandhaus, enabled Berlioz to obtain a hearing there, and then returned to his duties at Berlin, leaving Hiller to conduct at the Gewandhaus. In 1844 he accepted an invitation to conduct five concerts for the London Philharmonic Society, but declined an invitation to conduct a New York music festival. Conditions in Berlin becoming more and more irksome, Mendelssohn withdrew from his official position there, and the following year returned to his old desk at the Gewandhaus, Leipsic. He induced Moscheles to join him at the Conservatory, and besides the routine of concerts and teaching, worked at the oratorio "Elijah," taking time, however, to fill a seventh engagement as conductor at the Lower Rhine Festival. "Elijah" was performed Aug. 26, 1846, at the Birmingham Festival, where the composer said it was "admirably performed and received by
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