March Piece of the Month-Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel's Notturno in g minor

For the stormy month of March, I selected Notturno in G Minor by Fanny Hensel, sometimes known as Fanny Mendelssohn Bartholdy, or Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel.

The Other Mendelssohn

Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847) was born in Hamburg, Germany nearly four years before her famous brother Felix. The two received similar musical training and both were deemed prodigies. They were quite close and helped each other with their compositions and often performed together. Fanny grew up in an upper-class Jewish family and the granddaughter of the famous philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. The entire family later converted to the Lutheran faith due to societal pressures, which is why the name Bartholdy emerges. In early 19th century Germany, it was not proper for women of Fanny’s stature to perform or compose music. This attitude was shared by Mendelssohn's father. In 1820 he wrote - "Music will perhaps become his [Felix's] profession, while for you it can and must be only an ornament.” In fact, six of her songs were published under her brother’s name in his Opus 8 and 9 collections.

Photo by John Tyson via Unsplash

Working the System

In 1829, Fanny married the Prussian artist Wilhelm Hensel, and in 1830 they had their only child, Sebastian Hensel. Beginning in 1831, she hosted a weekly musical salon, inviting up to 100 people into her home for performances. She programmed each concert, played the piano, conducted, and composed music. Her husband assisted with the visual aspect of the performances. In 1846, despite the continuing hesitancy of her family toward her musical ambitions, Fanny Hensel published a collection of songs - Opus 1. The day before her death from a stroke, Fanny wrote her last song, ‘Bergeslust,’ setting it to a poem by Eichendorff. The final line of the poem, ‘Our fantasies as well as our songs rise up until they reach heaven’ is engraved on her tombstone

Notturno in g minor

Fanny Hensel wrote this piece in the style of a Barcarolle or Venetian boat song in 1838, in preparation for her year-long trip to Italy. The work shows some similarities to the Gondelied of her brother, who had shared his impressions of Venice with her and written several pieces in this style.

Legacy

Mendelssohn Hensel wrote over 450 works. She specialized in miniature forms. More than half of her works are art songs. Included in this body of work are 125 piano pieces - the most famous, Das Jahr (German for “the Year”) is a groundbreaking cycle of 12 pieces characterizing the 12 months of the year plus a short postlude. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, archives in the former East Germany became available to researchers, and the full range of her accomplishments came to light. She is finally getting some of the recognition she deserves. About 200 years ago, in a letter to Goethe, Zelter described Fanny's skill as a pianist with the highest praise for a woman at the time: "... she plays like a man.” It is amazing how much has changed in the musical world, yet there is still much work to be done.

Further Information

Fanny Hensel: The Other Mendelssohn, R. Larry Todd - A comprehensive biography of Fanny Hensel.

https://henselpushers.org -HenselPushers exists to share and celebrate the work of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel. Free scores help make her music more accessible to all.