Felix Mendelssohn: The Architect of Romantic Clarity and the Revival of Bach

Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor, one of the most gifted musicians of the Romantic age. He wrote the overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream as a teenager, and later the Italian and Scottish symphonies, the Violin Concerto, and the oratorios St. Paul and Elijah. As conductor in Leipzig he helped to build the modern concert orchestra.

In 1829 he conducted Bach's St. Matthew Passion in Berlin, a performance that helped to bring Bach back into public life. His letters show a man of strong opinions, quick humour, and deep seriousness about music. His love of the past and his clear forms give him a place beside Hector Berlioz, whose Romantic passion sounds very different, and beside Richard Wagner, whom he did not live to hear at his height.

This collection contains 12 sentences from Letters of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy from 1833 to 1847, in Lady Wallace's English translation, in the public-domain edition on Project Gutenberg. Because this is a translation, the wording is the translator's, and the sentences are quoted exactly as printed.

12 Quotes from Felix Mendelssohn

Feeling, Work, and Doubt

“But no such thing exists as an excess of sensibility; and what is designated as such is, in fact, rather a dearth of it.”

Mendelssohn argues that what people call too much feeling is really too little. A person who is truly sensitive, he says, is not excessive. The sentence turns a familiar complaint around, and it shows his habit of arguing a point in his letters with close logic and a touch of defiance.

“Universality, and everything bordering on æsthetics, makes me forthwith quite dumb and dejected.”

A confession that grand theories leave him cold. Mendelssohn prefers specific musical problems to broad talk about aesthetics. The tone is half joking, as if to disarm the recipient, and it is a good reminder that this composer was a practical musician who loved to work.

“Would that this mood of happy satisfaction could but be hoarded and stored up!”

He wishes that a feeling of contentment could be saved for later. The sentence has the warmth of a letter to someone close. It is a very human wish, and the exclamation gives it a quick and affectionate spirit, which is one reason his letters are so pleasant to read.

“What is Hecuba to me, or critics either?”

Mendelssohn echoes Hamlet's question about what Hecuba is to the actor, and replaces the legendary queen with critics. The joke is that critics matter as little to him as Hecuba mattered to the player. It shows his wit and his easy command of literature.

“Progress is made by work alone, and not by talking, which those people do not believe.”

A blunt sentence from a hard-working musician. Mendelssohn thinks that improvement comes through doing and not through discussion. He is impatient with people who prefer talk, and the line stands as a short motto for a man who composed, conducted, and travelled at a tireless pace.

Church Music and the Past

“Palestrina effected a reformation during his life; he could not do so now any more than Sebastian Bach or Luther.”

Mendelssohn is thinking about reform in church music. Palestrina, Bach, and Luther each shaped sacred music in their time, he says, but no single figure could remake it in the present. The sentence shows respect for the past and realism about what one person can do.

“Haydn's Mass was scandalously gay, but the whole thing was very tolerable.”

He reports on a church service with a mass by Haydn, and the word “gay” here means cheerful or lively. The remark is a mixture of amusement and mild reproof. It shows that Mendelssohn took the style of sacred music seriously and had firm views about the right tone for worship.

“This was the case with Bach's ‘Passion;’ it was sung in church as an independent piece of music, for edification.”

Mendelssohn notes that Bach's Passion was performed in church as music in its own right, meant to edify listeners. He knew the work well, having brought it back to the concert hall. The sentence is a small piece of musical history from someone who helped to make it.

Virtuosos and the Public

“But why should I be forced to listen for the thirtieth time to all sorts of variations by Herz?”

Henri Herz was a fashionable pianist known for showy variations. Mendelssohn complains at being made to hear them over and over. The number thirty is comic, and the sentence reveals a serious taste for substance in music, together with a sharp sense of humour.

“They cause me less pleasure than rope-dancers or acrobats.”

He compares the pianists to circus performers and finds the circus more fun. The remark is a joke, but it also expresses his dislike of display for its own sake. For him, music was more than a trick of the fingers, and the sentence says so with some spirit.

“But those who perform feats of agility on the piano do not even endanger their lives, but only our ears.”

This follows from the previous comparison. Rope-dancers risk their necks, he says, but the piano acrobat risks only the listener's ears. It is among the funniest lines in the letters, and a good example of how Mendelssohn could be serious and mischievous in the same sentence.

“I also form one of the public, and I demand the exact reverse.”

Mendelssohn answers those who say that the public wants showy music. He too belongs to the public, he says, and he wants the opposite. The sentence is a neat reversal and a defence of listeners who prefer depth, and it still answers the claim that audiences only want to be dazzled.

Conclusion

Mendelssohn's letters show the man behind the polished music: quick, funny, hard-working, and firm in his tastes. He dislikes empty display, respects the past, and believes in doing the work. Even in translation, his voice comes through with energy and charm.

He died in 1847 at the age of thirty-eight, and his music has remained in the repertoire ever since. These twelve sentences offer a small portrait of the composer in his own words, and they may encourage readers to open the full volume of letters.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Felix Mendelssohn?

Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor. He is known for the Midsummer Night's Dream music, the Italian Symphony, the Violin Concerto, and the oratorio Elijah.

What did Mendelssohn do for Bach?

In 1829 he conducted Bach's St. Matthew Passion in Berlin, which helped to revive interest in Bach's music in the nineteenth century.

Who was Henri Herz?

Henri Herz was a pianist and composer of the period, famous for brilliant piano pieces and variations. Mendelssohn mocks this style in the letters quoted here.

Which text is quoted here?

The quotations come from Letters of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy from 1833 to 1847 in Lady Wallace's English translation, in the public-domain edition on Project Gutenberg. They are given as printed.

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• Hector Berlioz: The Architect of the Romantic Orchestra and Musical Passion
• Richard Wagner: The Titan of Total Art and Operatic Revolution
• Claude Debussy: The Revolutionary Painter of Sound

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