Mendelssohn-Hensel: Lieder, Vol. 2

Featuring

Dorothea Craxton
Babette Dorn
Fanny Hensel

Did you know?

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Compositional Technique

Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel's compositions, numbering around five hundred, primarily consist of songs and piano pieces, which were considered socially acceptable for a 'salon' composer.

Performer Biography

Soprano Dorothea Craxton has given particular attention to the work of women composers of the Romantic period, including Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel.

Composer Biography

Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel was a passionate champion of Bach and joined the Berlin Singakademie in 1820, an institution dedicated to reviving music of the past.

Composition History

Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel's first collection of songs was not published until 1846, just a year before her untimely death from a stroke.

Composition History

Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel's brother, Felix Mendelssohn, sometimes passed off her compositions as his own, while discouraging her from publishing under her own name.

Composer Biography

Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel was the granddaughter of the famous philosopher Moses Mendelssohn and received a similar musical education to her younger brother, Felix Mendelssohn.

Historical Context

Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel's father, Abraham, instructed her to focus on her 'real calling' as a housewife, reflecting societal expectations for women at the time.