History Music / FelixMendelssohn

* JewishCreators: Felix Mendelssohn took a lot of pride in his Jewish heritage, especially given that he is the grandson of the renowned Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn.

----

* JewishCreators

* HeAlsoDid: Mendelssohn was a talented painter in addition to being a composer and conductor.

* CoolBigSis: His older sister Fanny, a talented composer in her own right who was nonetheless discouraged from publishing her works due to her gender. She would often help critique his pieces while he, in turn, published a few of her works under his own name (which led to an incident where he had to admit to UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria that one of her favorite pieces of music was written by Fanny, not himself). The two were close and after her death Felix would dedicate his last major work, the String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, to her memory.

* FadingIntoTheNextSong: The first movement of his Violin Concerto flows directly into the second by a sustained oboe note.

* OlderIsBetter: Although a member of the Romantic tradition in music, Mendelssohn was rather conservative in his tastes and compositional style. This led him to champion older composers; he lead a revival of the music of Music/GeorgeFredericHandel in Germany, and put on the first production of Bach's ''St. Matthew Passion'' in decades, leading to new appreciation of the Leipzig master.[[note]]Actually, Mendelssohn's performance of the ''St. Matthew Passion'' was really the culmination of a steadily growing interest in Bach's music which had begun some years earlier. The performances had the effect of demonstrating to a wide audience, in the most dramatic way, that the composer who'd they'd only heard was great, really was great.[[/note]] He also conducted the first performance of Music/FranzSchubert's 9th Symphony, a decade after Schubert's death.

* A snippet of the Violin Concerto is used to conclude ''Film/LesVisiteurs'' and its sequels.

* OlderIsBetter: Although a member of the Romantic tradition in music, Mendelssohn was rather conservative in his tastes and compositional style. This led him to champion older composers; he lead a revival of the music of Music/GeorgeFredericHandel in Germany, and put on the first production of Bach's ''St. Matthew Passion'' in decades, leading to new appreciation of the Leipzig master. He also conducted the first performance of Music/FranzSchubert's 9th Symphony, a decade after Schubert's death.

* AmbiguouslyJewish: Not ambiguous enough for 19th century Germany, though. Mendelssohn was ethnically Jewish; he was aware of his heritage and proud of it, especially because his grandfather was the great 18th-century Jewish philosopher UsefulNotes/MosesMendelssohn. However, he was raised without religion and later became a Lutheran Christian. He was still the victim of antisemitism, though, and his music was banned by the Nazis.

* RealMenLoveJesus: Mendelssohn was baptised into the Christian faith, but he embraced it as he got older. He attended worship services of different denominations, but his love for the music of Bach anchored him to Lutheranism. He also composed a number of sacred works, like two oratorios based on the lives of St. Paul and the prophet Elijah; the ''Lobgesang'' (or Symphony No. 2), a choral symphony that uses portions of the Bible as its text; and Symphony No. 5, also called the ''Reformation'', which he composed in honour of the 300th anniversary of the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession. He remained a committed Lutheran throughout his life, though he was also proud of his Jewish heritage.

* RealMenLoveJesus: Mendelssohn was baptised into the Christian faith, but he embraced it as he got older. He attended worship services of different denominations, but his love for the music of Bach anchored him to Lutheranism. He remained a committed Lutheran throughout his life, though he was proud of his Jewish heritage.

* "Athalia" (also called "War March of the Priests") is played on an organ by the title character in the opening of ''Film/TheAbominableDrPhibes''.

He wrote [[LohengrinAndMendelssohn one of the two most famous pieces of wedding music ever]], originally as incidental music for a production of ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream''. Other well-known works include the Christmas Carol "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing", "War March of the Priests", the "Hebrides Overture" (also known as "Fingal's Cave"), "Spring Song", and the Violin Concerto in E minor.

* ChildProdigy: Gave his first public concert at ''nine years old.'' Some of his finest compositions, such as the ''[[Music/OctetInEFlatMajor Octet in E-flat major]]'', the "Overture" to ''Music/AMidsummerNightsDream'', his first two string quartets, and a pair of concertos for two pianos and orchestra (not to mention 12 string symphonies) were written when Mendelssohn was 18 years old or younger.
* CoolBigSis: His older sister Fanny, a talented composer in her own right who was nonetheless discouraged from publishing her works due to her gender. She would often help critique his pieces while he, in turn, published a few of her works under his own name (which led to an incident where he had to admit to UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria that one of her favorite pieces of music was written by Fanny, not himself). The two were close and after her death Felix would dedicate his last major work, the ''[[Music/StringQuartetNoSixInFMinor String Quartet No. 6 in F minor]]'', to her memory.

* LohengrinAndMendelssohn: Half-TropeNamer. His "Wedding March" from ''Music/AMidsummerNightsDream'' has long been a wedding recessional staple.

* PreachersKid: Mendelssohn's wife, [[UsefulNotes/CecileJeanrenaud Cécile Jeanrenaud]], was a clergyman's daughter.

* TravelogueShow: Or travelogue piece in this case. Mendelssohn wrote several such works, including his ''[[Music/SymphonyNoThreeInAMinorScottish Symphony No. 3 in A minor ("Scottish")]]'', ''[[Music/SymphonyNoFourInAMajorItalian Symphony No. 4 in A major ("Italian")]]'', and the concert overture ''Music/TheHebrides''. The composer traveled extensively throughout Europe, and these pieces were inspired by his sojourns.

* GoodOldWays: Although a member of the Romantic tradition in music, Mendelssohn was rather conservative in his tastes and compositional style. This led him to champion older composers; he lead a revival of the music of Music/GeorgeFredericHandel in Germany, and put on the first production of Bach's ''St. Matthew Passion'' in decades, leading to new appreciation of the Leipzig master. He also conducted the first performance of Music/FranzSchubert's 9th Symphony, a decade after Schubert's death.

* VindicatedByHistory: Not himself (necessarily), but rather, Mendelssohn caused this for the music of Music/JohannSebastianBach, who in his lifetime was primarily famous as an organist rather than a composer. Mendelssohn discovered many of Bach's manuscripts in the early 1800s and conducted the ''St. Matthew Passion'' for the first time since Bach's death 80 years ago. The Bach Revival and modern day reverence of Bach as a composer is heavily attributed to Mendelssohn.

* LohengrinAndMendelssohn: Half-TropeNamer.

* AmbiguouslyJewish: Not ambiguous enough for 19th century Germany, though. Yes, Mendelssohn was ethnically Jewish (his grandfather was the great 18th-century Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn), but he was raised without religion and later became Lutheran. He was still the victim of antisemitism, though, and his music was banned by the Nazis.
* ChildProdigy: Gave his first public concert at ''nine years old.''
* CoolBigSis: His older sister Fanny, a talented composer in her own right who was nonetheless discouraged from publishing her works due to her gender. She would often help critique his pieces while he, in turn, published a few of her works under his own name (which led to an incident where he had to admit to UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria that one of her favorite pieces of music was written by Fanny, not himself). The two were close and after her death Felix would dedicate his last major work, the String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, to her memory.

--> "I should like to write a violin concerto for you next winter. One in E minor runs through my head, the beginning of which gives me no peace." -- Mendelssohn to his childhood friend, violinist Ferdinand David

* GoodOldWays: Although a member of the Romantic tradition in music, Mendelssohn was rather conservative in his tastes and compositional style. This led him to champion older composers; he lead a revival of the music of Music/GeorgeFridericHandel in Germany, and put on the first production of Bach's ''St. Matthew Passion'' in decades, leading to new appreciation of the Leipzig master. He also conducted the first performance of Music/FranzSchubert's 9th Symphony, a decade after Schubert's death.

* GoodOldWays: Although a member of the Romantic tradition in music, Mendelssohn was rather conservative in his tastes and compositional style. This led him to champion older composers; he lead a revival of the music of Creator/GeorgeFridericHandel in Germany, and put on the first production of Bach's ''St. Matthew Passion'' in decades, leading to new appreciation of the Leipzig master. He also conducted the first performance of Music/FranzSchubert's 9th Symphony, a decade after Schubert's death.