MENDELSSOHN

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy; 3 February 1809 – 4 November 1847), was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Felix Mendelssohn was born into a prominent Jewish family, although initially he was raised without religion and was later baptized as a Reformed Christian. Mendelssohn was particularly well received in Britain as a composer, conductor and soloist and where many of his major works were premiered. His essentially conservative musical tastes, however, set him apart from many of his more adventurous musical contemporaries such as Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner and Hector Berlioz. His best-known works include his Overture and incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Italian Symphony, the Scottish Symphony, the overture The Hebrides, his mature Violin Concerto, and his String Octet. After a long period of relative denigration due to changing musical tastes and anti-Semitism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, his creative originality has now been recognized and he is now among the most popular composers of the Romantic era.