Scan 65
The American history and encyclopedia of Music: Musical Biographies, 1908
3 lines. Read by computer on 15 September 2026. Printed page 45. See the scan on archive.org.
1Mendelssohn
2ay, March 21. Thus Mendelssohn, just one century after the composer's death, performed the greatest of oratorios and revived interest in the foremost musicians of the world. In 1829 Mendelssohn made his first trip to England, the country where he was first appreciated, and to which he always referred with loving gratitude. On Midsummer Night he conducted the Midsummer Night's Dream Overture. He became the idol of the British public and was received with enthusiasm wherever he went. At the close of the London season he made an extended tour through Scotland and Ireland, which proved rich in inspiration and gave him material for The Hebrides Overture, The Scotch Symphony, and a Scotch Sonata. During that year he wrote a violin quartet in C flat, an organ composition in honor of his sister's wedding; the Scotch sonata, and the Reformation Symphony to be played at the tercentennial celebration of the Augsburg Confession of Faith in 1830. In March, after fortnight with Goethe and a month spent at Munich, he went to Italy. He visited all the principal cities, stayed some time in Rome and did not return home until the following September, when he made a walking trip from Interlaken to Munich. During this time in Italy he worked on Goethe's Valpurgisnacht, finished Fingal's Cave, and wrote his Scotch and Italian symphonies. While he was in Munich he composed and played his G minor concerto and received a commission to write an opera, which caused him to go to Düsseldorf to consult Immermann in regard to a libretto from The Tempest. During this time he laid the foundation for his future work here. His last visit to Paris, made during the latter part of this year, was embittered by the rejection of his Reformation Symphony as too pedantic by the orchestra, and saddened by the news of the death of Goethe. Although he had been warmly received by all the great musicians of the city, and his Midsummer Night's Dream music had been enthusiastically applauded at a Conservatory concert, he was glad to return to England in April, 1832. The season that followed was a brilliant one. The Philharmonic Society performed the Hebrides Overture, he played his G minor concerto and he wrote the Capriccio brillante in B, and published a four-hand arrangement of the Midsummer Night's Dream Overture and the First Book of Songs Without Words. The spring of 1834 he went to London to conduct the Italian Symphony, finished that year for the Philharmonic Society, and on his return went to Düsseldorf to conduct the Lower Rhine Festival. This was so successful that the authorities asked Mendelssohn to take charge of their town music, an offer which he gladly accepted. He began by reforming the church-music; he introduced many improvements into the theatre, but found the work so uncongenial that after a short time he gave it up. During 1834 he wrote Infelice for the Philharmonic Society, completed Melusina, composed the Rondo Brillante in E flat and the Capriccio in A minor, and began work on St. Paul, a commission from the Cäcilien-Verein of Frankfort. After conducting the Lower Rhine Festival for 1835 he went to Leipsic, where he had accepted the position of leader of the Gewandhaus concerts. Considered by many the foremost of all conductors, he was especially fitted to this work, and brought the concerts to a degree of excellence never before reached. The death of his father saddened this winter, but in spite of that he continued to work very hard, completing St. Paul and revising the Melusina Overture. The following May he again conducted the Lower Rhine Festival at Düsseldorf, then went to Frankfort to take charge of the Cäcilien-Verein. During this summer he met Mlle. Cecile Jeanrenaud, who became his wife in March, 1837. This marriage proved a very happy one and did not at all detract from his work, as may be seen by the fact that even on the honeymoon he wrote a number of compositions. During August of that year he conducted the oratorio, St. Paul, at the Birmingham Festival. During the next three years most of his work was done in connection with the Gewandhaus concerts. He conducted the Lower Rhine Festival at Cologne in 1838 and spent his vacation at Berlin writing a string quartet in D and a sonata in F for piano and violin. During the following winter he finished the overture, Ruy Blas, composed the 114th Psalm, and worked on the oratorio, Elijah. He conducted the Festival at Düsseldorf, and spent the following sum-
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