Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born, and generally known in English-speaking countries, as Felix Mendelssohn (3 February 1809 – 4 November 1847) is a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period.
The grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn was born into a prominent Jewish family, although initially he is raised without religion and is later baptized as a Lutheran Christian.
Mendelssohn is recognized early as a musical prodigy, but his parents were cautious and do not seek to capitalize on his talent.
Early success in Germany, where he also revives interest in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, is followed by travel throughout Europe.
Mendelssohn is particularly well received in Britain as a composer, conductor and soloist, and his ten visits there – during which many of his major works are premiered – form an important part of his adult career.
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.
The Leipzig Conservatoire (now the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig), which he founds, becomes a bastion of this anti-radical outlook.
Mendelssohn's work includes symphonies, concerti, oratorios, piano music and chamber music.
His most-performed works include his Overture and incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Italian Symphony, the Scottish Symphony, the overture The Hebrides, his Violin Concerto, and his String Octet.
After a long period of relative denigration due to changing musical tastes and anti-Jewsih attitudes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, his creative originality has now been recognized and re-evaluated.
He is now among the most popular composers of the Romantic era.
