Mendelssohn(-Bartholdy), (Jakob Ludwig) Felix 1809-47
German composer

Born in Hamburg, he made his first public appearance as a pianist at the age of 10. Within the next few years he formed the acquaintance of Goethe, Carl Weber and Ignaz Moscheles, and composed his Symphony in C minor (1824) and the B minor Quartet (1824-25). His Midsummer Night's Dream overture (1826) was an early success, and a tour of Scotland in the summer of 1829 inspired the Hebrides overture (1830) and the 'Scotch' Symphony. He settled in Berlin in 1841 when the King of Prussia asked him to co-found an Academy of Arts, and in 1843 his new music school at Leipzig was opened, with Schumann and the violinist Ferdinand David among his associates. He produced his Elijah in Birmingham in 1846, one of 10 visits to England. His sister's death in 1847 affected him profoundly, and he never recovered. The grandson of Moses Mendelssohn, his father added the name Bartholdy.