Fanny & Felix Mendelssohn: Piano Sextet, Piano Quartet, Piano Trio

Featuring

Tom Poster
Elena Urioste
Juan-Miguel Hernandez
Rosalind Ventris
Laura van der Heijden
Chi-chi Nwanoku

Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Fanny Hensel

Did you know?

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Historical Context

Fanny Mendelssohn's father, Abraham Mendelssohn, believed that while her brother Felix could pursue music professionally, for Fanny, music must remain an 'ornament of her femininity,' meaning she should not perform or publish publicly.

Composition History

Felix Mendelssohn composed his Piano Sextet in D major in just fourteen days in 1824, but it was never published during his lifetime, appearing posthumously in 1868 as his Op. 110.

Composer Biography

Fanny Mendelssohn and Felix Mendelssohn, both composers featured on this album, were siblings who died within six months of each other in 1847 from strokes, a congenital disposition in their family.

Composition History

Felix Mendelssohn published six of Fanny's songs under his own name as a compromise to allow her music to be heard, which led to an embarrassment when Queen Victoria praised one of them, thinking it was his.

Composer's Artistic Vision

The performers on this album note that Felix Mendelssohn's chamber music demands sparkling virtuosity and is elegantly crafted, while Fanny Mendelssohn's equally dazzling writing feels raw, impassioned, and more challenging.

Critical Reception

Fanny Mendelssohn's Piano Quartet in A flat major, a student work she composed at seventeen, languished unpublished for over a century, only coming to light in the late twentieth century.

Performer Biography

The Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, founded by Tom Poster and Elena Urioste, was appointed Associate Ensemble at Wigmore Hall in 2020 and is committed to celebrating diversity and unearthing lesser-known repertoire.