Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, a child prodigy, was introduced to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe at age 12 through his teacher Carl Friedrich Zelter, a friend of Goethe.
Compositional Technique
The string quartet was considered the 'queen of chamber music' by the 18th century, with its rapid rise attributed to the Viennese classical composers.
Performer Biography
The Minguet Quartett, the performers on this album, received the ECHO Klassik in 2010 and the French Diapason d'Or of the Year in 2015.
Composer Biography
Mendelssohn's family home in Berlin hosted 'Sunday concerts' for the intellectual elite, including figures like Carl Maria von Weber, Louis Spohr, and Friedrich Hegel.
Composer Biography
Mendelssohn founded the Leipzig Conservatory, now known as the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University of Music, which is Germany's oldest musical institute of higher learning.
Compositional Technique
The string quartet texture was ennobled by the symbolic number four, which correlated to the four elements, seasons, and points of the compass.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Mendelssohn was a universal musician who composed in all standard genres of his day, from piano music to opera, similar to Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.
