"The Life and Works of Felix Mendelssohn".
Regarded by some critics as the 19th century equivalent of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Felix Mendelssohn was arguably one of the most influential composers of his era. From simply observing the quality and amount of the musical compositions he wrote in his brief lifetime, he has certainly proved to be comparable to Mozart. Unfortunately he also suffered similar hardships late in life, which ultimately led to an early death. Even so, his compositions amount to approximately eleven symphonies, five operas, an octet, and many other pieces for the piano, organ and chamber orchestra. .
Mendelssohn was born in 1809, into a highly artistic and intellectual family. He showed signs of true genius from early childhood and even at a young age he reflected the true talent of a prodigy, by playing both the piano and the violin, painting, and being gifted in languages. At twelve years old, Mendelssohn and his sister Fanny travelled to Paris to study the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Sebastian Bach. He went on to study the piano with Ludwig Berger and theory and composition with Carl Zelter. He produced his first piece in 1820 and subsequently a large amount of sonatas, concertos, string symphonies, and piano quartets. Mendelssohn's first major intimation of his growing style is evident in his Andante and Rondo Capriccioso (Op.14), which was written at the age of only fifteen years old reflects a lightness and clarity in scherzo-like movements which still remains unique to Mendelssohn. These compositions revealed his increasing mastery of counterpoint and form, and evident influence of J.S. Bach. Other influences included the poetry of Goethe and Shakespeare. These are reflected in his best music of this early period, including the poetic overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream (Op.21), and the energetic String Octet in E flat major (Op.
