Mendelssohn Goodies!

REINFORCING LAST WEEK'S CHORALE ASSIGNMENT!!!
It's all about Mendelssohn!

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

Born February 3, 1809 - Died November 24, 1847

FM's first published composition (a piano quartet) appeared when he was 13. He began piano lessons at age 6 and made his debut as a pianist THREE YEARS later! He wrote TWELVE string symphonies between the ages of 12 and 14.
This fellow was definitely a child prodigy ;-) It's also quite likely that his life was blessedly free of electronic distraction devices, public school athletic functions,  raves, and the internet.

*FM was a talented watercolor painter and illustrated many of his letters.
(Bonus points: FM's love for Britain and things British is well-documented. Fast-forward a bit and find a talented avocational painter (this one British) whose :day job" was, shall we say, in a very different field. Hint: this person and Mendelssohn never met face-to-face)

*How/why did Felix Mendelssohn become Felix Mendelssohn - Bartholdy?

Oh my, this is delightful, indeed!

*Back in the day, it seemed against the law to use anything other than the "Wedding March" from FM's stage music for A Midsummer Night's Dream as the recessional at weddings.
What was (over!)used for the processional? Whose music is it, and where does it come from?!
(Whoa, irony!)
If you have time, do listen to all of AMSD The "Nocturne" is simply sublime, and the "scherzo" will instantly transport you to another world.
Bonus points to Shakespeare lovers - listen to AMSD as you read the play. You'll have to listen to the complete AMSD more than once - that's a problem??!!!

*FM completed two oratorios. One might say that the subject matter of these two oratorios expressed something very important about FM's personal upbringing and background. What might that be? 

*Who was this?


 Read about her here.


*The illustrious Bach family has been studied by scholars and geneticists - why might this be? In my opinion, the Mendelssohn family also merits study by physicians and geneticists. Why might that be?

I remember a more than mildly acrimonious conversation in graduate school - my "opponent" was a Doctoral Person Studying Musicology, who roused my ire by berating (and worse, discounting!!!) Mendelssohn's music. This person felt that one couldn't call Mendelssohn a truly great composer, one who truly expressed the height and depth of human emotion - and why?!!  In my (NOT!) friend's opinion, Mendelssohn wasn't great because he didn't suffer enough!

I was socially timid in those days, but I remember indignantly thinking. "You arrogant, IGNORANT bone head! Just look at Mendelssohn's piano music alone: solo, chamber, songs, Songs Without Words - MENDELSSOHN DID SO SUFFER. BUT, HE WAS A HAPPY PERSON WHO HAD MOMENTS OF SUFFERING - NOT A SUFFERING PERSON WHO HAD MOMENTS OF HAPPINESS. YOU KNOW NOTHING. ROBERT SCHUMANN WOULD CORRECTLY IDENTIFY YOU AS A PHILISTINE AND HAVE NOTHING WHATEVER TO DO WITH YOU. AND NEITHER SHALL I, FROM THIS DAY FORWARD. GOOD DAY, SIR."
I'd say that stuff now, without second thoughts or embarrassment.
(Where's that guy anyway? I wish for him a long career as a family and marriage therapist. Or a divorce lawyer.)

Me - I thought FM was aptly named.  After years in my field, I have ceased to be titillated by trauma/drama/Sturm/Drang/indigence/mental health issues/social disease/general scandal in accounts of a Famous Music Person's life... ;-) I did, however, have more fun that any reasonable person should have had, prepping for the Music History classes I've taught.
Biographical materials I've consulted suggest that Mendelssohn was a kind, thoughtful, decent man who liked people and who was liked by them in return. He had the ability to disagree without being incorrigibly disagreeable - one of life's most treasured personality traits.
But! what about the ubiquitous "tortured artist" meme? Your thoughts!

If all of this still doesn't convince you, know that Mendelssohn's music is frequently performed on Vulcan. 
I know this because I have a second doctorate in Star Trek fan fiction. I am speaking of the One True Trek here - The Original and Only Trek.

AND NOW
Okay, everyone!
I have THREE GLORIOUS TCHOTCHKES, which I will award to the first three people to answer questions marked with * - Please email me through SU email and put "Lee's Lessons" in your subject header.

PS. I don't know about you, but these Very Famous And Important Musical People become most real to me if I find out how they departed this mortal coil. I can't help it - I'm Southern! ("He's dead? Bless him - what did he die of? Did he have a big funeral?")
If you have this in common with me, you might find the following volumes of interest.
This one
And this one
And this article
And...this one!
If you like, check one or more of these through ILL (Inter-Library Loan). Or, ask Uncle GOOGLE to lead you to "deaths of composers." The list I'm posting here is minute, compared to the amount of published research and popular writing on the subject.
One more thing -

Dreifaltigkeitsfriedhof I 

Kreuzberg
Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
Berlin, Germany

Felix Mendelssohn is buried under the central white cross. His sister Fanny (tall brown stone) is buried between her brother and her husband, William Hensel.