Course B3 - Jews in Music – The Life and Music of Felix Mendelssohn

Philip Hyman

Philip has been talking about Jews in Music for four years at CLC and in honour of Felix Mendelssohn's recent bi-centenary he is devoting a whole term of four lectures to this most popular of composers, and his lesser known sister Fanny.

8th February - Family Background and Early Years
Felix Mendelssohn sprang from the union of two of the most brilliant, wealthy and influential families in the Prussian/German Empire. Tonight Philip will look at the family background in detail, including their close connections with the Bach family, and go on to tell the story of Felix's and Fanny's first two decades, a story of hard work and sparkling genius. Tonight's music will include pieces from those early years not usually heard.
15th February - Felix Abroad
Mendelssohn gave concerts throughout Germany and Prussia, and made no fewer than ten trips to Britain. His Grand European Tour resulted in the Italian and Scottish Symphonies, and the world famous Fingal's Cave music. The public adored him wherever he went, and Felix quickly became a personal friend of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
22nd February - Great Things in Leipzig, Exhaustion, and Two Early Deaths
Fanny travels to Italy with her husband and gives some public concerts. Felix is asked to found the Conservatoire in Leipzig, an enterprise he oversees devotedly, whilst still directing the Leipzig concerts. He completes his famous Violin Concerto and works on his final great masterpiece Elijah, making a number of trips to England in the process.
1st March - Mendelssohn's Legacy
Many of Mendelssohn's friends, colleagues and pupils were Jewish and they all went on to have successful and important careers in music as teachers and performers. But Hiller Joachim and Ferdinand David are nothing more than footnotes in music history today, and later musicians such as Dessoff, Brull, Tausig, Gernsheim and Solomon Jadassohn are names which are completely forgotten. Tonight Philip tells their stories, and presents a rare chance to hear some lovely music by these forgotten Jewish Masters.

Philip Hyman has been with BBC radio for more than three decades and has worked as an announcer on Radio 4, and as a Producer/Presenter for World Service English – Teaching programmes. Philip has had a life-long passion for classical music and for many years now he has worked as a Scheduler for Radio 3.