Voting Station

Fanny Mendelssohn

Please vote to return to collections.

Composer

The Resume

    (November 14, 1805-May 14, 1847)
    Born in Hamburg, Germany
    Sister of Felix Mendelssohn
    Composed over 120 pieces for the piano and over 250 lieder

Why she might be annoying:

    She largely avoided larger, more complex compositions, writing to her brother, ‘I lack the ability to sustain ideas properly and give them the needed consistency.’
    Most of her compositions were not published in her lifetime.
    Several of her compositions were published under her brother’s name.

Why she might not be annoying:

    When she was fourteen, she entertained at her father’s birthday by playing from memory all 24 preludes from Bach’s ‘The Well-Tempered Clavier.’
    When Carl Zelter taught composition to her and Felix, he initially considered her the more talented sibling.
    She wrote about Felix, ‘I have always been his only musical adviser, and he never writes down a thought before submitting it to my judgment.’
    Felix frequently rewrote pieces based on her suggestions and nicknamed her ‘Minerva,’ after the Roman goddess of wisdom.
    Felix wrote his String Quartet No. 6 in F Minor in tribute to her.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 7 Votes: 14.29% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 30.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying