The grandson of Moses Mendelssohn , a distinguished philosopher and spiritual leader of German Jewry, wrote his inspired overture A Midsummer Night's Dream when only seventeen - eight years after his first public piano recital. In the vibrant, cultivated atmosphere of an affluent household, the young prodigy blossomed intellectually and musically. Mendelssohn earned considerable fame in his day. His tours throughout the continent brought him often to England and into the personal favor of Queen Victoria who deeply admired his genius.
Musicologists consider Mendelssohn's choral and organ music as among the best the century produced.
By the early 1840s he was the most acclaimed and popular composer in Central Europe. And taking up the baton he conducted the first performances of symphonies by his friend and colleague, Robert Schumann, and by Franz Schubert. Physically depleted and in failing health, on of the most gifted musicians of his day expired soon after his overwhelming bereavement. All rights reserved.