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Felix Mendelssohn: Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
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Felix Mendelssohn (Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn) was born 1809, the grandson of the Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. His father converted to Christianity, baptized his children and changed their surname to Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. Felix resisted the change and kept Mendelssohn as his surname.
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(Hamburg, 1809-47, Leipzig), a grandson of Moses Mendelssohn, grew up in an affluent culture-loving Jewish family which on its conversion to the Lutheran faith added Bartholdy to the family name. He was a child prodigy as a pianist and became a pupil of Goethe's friend Zelter; by the time of his death, aged 38, he was recognized as one of Germany's foremost composers. He matured early, writing his octet at 16 and the Midsummer Night's Dream overture at 17. Later instrumental works include 5 symphonies, 3 concertos, organ sonatas, piano pieces (Lieder ohne Worte), chamber and church music, and incidental music to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Racine's Athalie and the Antigone and Oedipus at Colonus of Sophocles to commissions from Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia. His first oratorio, St. Paul (1836), proved successful in England, and Elijah (1846) received its premiere at the Birmingham Festival with the composer conducting. He paid ten visits to Britain: the ‘Hebrides’ overture Fingal's Cave was inspired by his Scottish tour during the first in 1829.
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This obituary for Felix Mendelssohn appeared in The Times on November 10, 1847. Mendelssohn’s full name was Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, but he was always known as Felix Mendelssohn. Leipsic is present-day Leipzig in eastern Germany. Original spelling has been retained.
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Felix Jakob Ludwig Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was born in Hamburg, Germany, on February 3, 1809, the son of Abraham and Leah Mendelssohn and the grandson of the famous Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786). In later years Felix's father humorously referred to himself as "formerly the son of my father and now the father of my son." In 1812 the family moved to Berlin, Germany, where Abraham established himself as a banker, converted to Protestantism (a branch of Christian religion), and changed the family name to Mendelssohn-Bartholdy.
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Abraham sought to renounce the Jewish religion; his children were first brought up without religious education, and were baptised as Lutherans in 1816 (at which time Felix took the additional names Jakob Ludwig). (Abraham and his wife were not themselves baptised until 1822). The name Bartholdy was assumed at the suggestion of Lea's brother, Jakob, who had purchased a property of this name and adopted it as his own surname. Abraham was later to explain this decision in a letter to Felix as a means of showing a decisive break with the traditions of his father Moses: "There can no more be a Christian Mendelssohn than there can be a Jewish Confucius". Although Felix continued to sign his letters as "Mendelssohn Bartholdy" in obedience to his father's injunctions, he seems not to have objected to the use of "Mendelssohn" alone.[1]
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When Felix was a teenager, his parents were finally baptized as Lutherans. They ... took the name Bartholdy and dropped the name Mendelssohn. They wanted Felix to do the same. Felix was always an obedient, well-mannered, and compliant son, but here he drew the line. His father, in fact, ordered calling cards for him with the name, “Felix M. Bartholdy.” Felix refused to use them. He insisted on retaining the name Mendelssohn.
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