author
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
1809–1847
One of the brightest musical voices of the early Romantic era, he combined elegance, energy, and emotional warmth in works that still feel instantly alive. He is especially remembered for music such as the Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Italian Symphony, the Violin Concerto in E minor, and the beloved "Wedding March."
4 Audiobooks
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
Letters of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy from Italy and Switzerland
by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
Letters of Felix Mendelssohn to Ignaz and Charlotte Moscheles
by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
Letters of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy from 1833 to 1847
by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
About the author
Born in Hamburg in 1809, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy grew up in a cultured, intellectually lively family and showed astonishing musical gifts from childhood. He became known not only as a composer but also as a pianist, organist, and conductor, admired across Europe for his polish, clarity, and wide-ranging talent.
His career moved quickly. Still young, he wrote works that became classics, and he later played an important role in musical life in Leipzig, where he served as conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra and helped found Germany’s first conservatory there. He also helped revive interest in Johann Sebastian Bach, most famously through a landmark 1829 performance of the St Matthew Passion.
Mendelssohn died in Leipzig in 1847 at just 38, yet his music has endured for generations. Brightly crafted but full of feeling, it bridges classical balance and romantic color in a way that makes it both graceful and immediately appealing.