<\/p>
Here is an introduction to the life and work of that supremely talented early Romantic composer<\/a><\/strong>, Felix Mendelssohn, whose facility for melody and drama can be matched by few composers. <\/p> Felix Mendelssohn was the most precocious musical genius of all time, Mozart<\/a><\/strong> included. In 1821, at the age of 12, he astonished Goethe and his circle in Weimar with his keyboard prowess. In Berlin he entranced all with performances of his string symphonies, concertos and chamber works. <\/p> By his 15th birthday his old teacher Carl Friedrich Zelter proclaimed the boy a member of the brotherhood of Bach<\/a><\/strong>, Haydn<\/a><\/strong> and Mozart. Before he was 16 the \u2018master\u2019 had already composed the brilliant B minor Piano Quartet, with its fleet, feathery scherzo \u2013 the first example of a genre Mendelssohn was to make his own.<\/p> Felix Mendelssohn was born on 3 February 1809 in Hamburg, Germany. His father Abraham Mendelssohn was a banker, and son of the prominent German-Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn.<\/p> Mendelssohn was the second of four children. His older sister, Fanny Mendelssohn<\/a><\/strong>, showed similar musical talents and also became a gifted composer. The two siblings were very close throughout their rather short lifetimes.<\/p> Hard on the heels of the Piano Quartet, in late 1825, came the miracle of the Octet. Where Mozart at 16 was a supreme musical mimic, Mendelssohn was already something else: a composer whose genius for memorable themes and dazzlingly original textures went hand-in-hand with a breathtaking command of large-scale structure.<\/p>Who was Felix Mendelssohn?<\/h2>
When was Mendelssohn born?<\/h2>
Who was Fanny Mendelssohn?<\/h2>
How old was Mendelssohn when he wrote the Octet?<\/h2>