- String Quartet f minor op. post. 80
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Preface
Mendelssohn‘s String Quartet op. 80 is one of his few “autobiographical” works – a moving musical testimony to the grief he felt at the death of his sister Fanny and to his attempts to transform his suffering into art. He had just returned from a journey of several weeks to England, where he conducted six performances of his newly revised Elijah and appeared at several … more
Critical Commentary
About the composer

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
A German composer, conductor, pianist, and organist who already numbered among the most important composers in Europe during his lifetime. While still young he found a unique tonal language. Reflected in his oeuvre, which spans all genres, are the contradictory tendencies of the age – Classicism and Romanticism. His endeavors over the course his life to perform the works of Johann Sebastian Bach led to a “rediscovery” of that composer which continues unabated. His intensive engagement with Bach and his counterpoint influenced his own compositional technique.
1809 | Born into a wealthy banker’s family in Hamburg on February 3. Escape to Berlin with his parents in 1811. First musical instruction from his mother. |
1819 | He becomes a pupil of Carl Friedrich Zelter. |
1820 | Joins the Sing-Akademie in Berlin. |
1821–23 | Twelve sinfonias for strings. |
1825 | String Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20. |
1826 | Overture to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Op. 21 |
1827 | Begins studies at the University of Berlin. |
1829 | Revival of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in Berlin on March 11 and 21. Travels to England and Scotland. |
1829–30 | “Reformation” Symphony in D minor, [Op. 107], with inclusion of the choral “Ein feste Burg“ (A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.) |
1830–32 | Extended travels, including to Italy and France. Piano Concerto in G minor, Op. 25; Overture in B minor, Op. 26, “The Hebrides, or Fingal’s Cave” (1829–30). |
1833 | Music director in Düsseldorf. “Italian” Symphony in A major, Op. 90 (1830–33). |
1835 | Director of the Gewandhaus concerts in Leipzig. |
1836 | Premiere in Düsseldorf of his oratorio “St. Paul: Oratorio on Words of the Holy Bible,” Op. 36. |
1838-44 | Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64. |
1840 | Composition of “Hymn of Praise, a Symphony-Cantata on Words of the Holy Bible,” Op. 52. |
1841 | Berlin, in the service of the Prussian king. “Variations sérieuses” in D minor, Op. 54, for piano. |
1842 | Completion of Symphony No. 3 (“Scottish”) in A minor, Op. 56, with a songlike opening. |
1843 | Incidental music to Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Op. 61. Director of the newly founded Leipzig Conservatory. |
1846 | Premiere of his oratorio “Elijah,” Op. 70, in Birmingham. |
1847 | String Quartet in F minor, [Op. 80]. Death in Leipzig on November 4. |