Two Romantic Duos I

Additional notes

Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847)

Felix Mendelssohn’s older sister, Fanny, was a musician of outstanding ability as a performer and composer. Brought up in an immensely patriarchal household and society, it is remarkable that she achieved so much, composing with such creativity, fine taste, and technical prowess. As a performer, it is interesting to note that at the age of fourteen she played from memory 24 preludes from J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier at one of the family’s salon concerts, while in maturity she performed publicly Felix’s Piano Concerto No.1.

The Mendelssohn siblings were very close and the famous brother encouraged her compositional efforts and she his, working endlessly together, passing to and fro constructive criticism throughout their lives, Felix always taking her ideas very seriously, nicknaming her ‘Minerva’ (the goddess of wisdom). It is worth noting that Charles Gounod and many others also thought her abilities to be outstanding.

Fanny’s husband, the court painter Wilhelm Hensel, comprehensively supported his wife, frequently leaving manuscript paper on her desk for her ‘to fill up’ by the time he would return home.

Sadly, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel died of a stroke at age 42 while rehearsing for one of the home concerts.

“Juni”

Das Jahr (The Year) H385 is a cycle of piano pieces written by Fanny after her year-long visit to Italy 1839-40. These twelve musical pieces, each one representing a month of the year, are a musical diary of all her experiences in Italy with her husband, Wilhelm Hensel and their only child, Sebastian. The score itself is a true work of art: the cycle was written on tinted sheets of paper and each month included an illustration by her husband, as well as a short poem that depicted the character of each piece. It was first composed in 1841, but just a year later she produced another version, in which the Serenade for the month of June was drastically changed. This transcription is based on the second version, which is the most commonly played.

In the first version of 1841, “Juni” was prefaced by these verses from Goethe’s tragedy, Faust:
Hör ich Rauschen, hör ich Lieder (Do I hear rustling, do I hear songs)
Hör ich holde Liebesklage? (Do I hear the sweet plaint of love?)

“Notturno”

The year-long trip to Italy which Fanny began in 1839 proved to be a great source of inspiration. Nevertheless, in 1838, before she had even set foot there, she had composed the Notturno in G minor in the style of a barcarolle, drawing on the traditional folk songs sung by Venetian gondoliers. Her brother, Felix Mendelssohn, had visited Venice previously and had shared with her his impressions of the journey; Fanny composed this piece inspired by his tales.
One year later she wrote another composition in this style: the Gondelfahrt (Serenata).