Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The other Mendelssohn

Older sisters inspire the brothers

Fanny Mendelssohn
Fanny Mendelssohn

The Other Mozart is a play for the stage based on the lIfe of Mozart’s sister Nannerl. The production is here for one night only on Sunday, June 12, 7:30 p.m., at the Balboa Theatre. The play is a part of this year’s Mainly Mozart Festival.

Maria Anna Mozart, or Nannerl, was Wolfgang’s inspiration as a child. She was four and a half years older, and Wolfgang, observing Nannerl’s music lessons a toddler, wanted to play just like her.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The two toured extensively as prodigies, but when Nannerl reached a certain age she was left at home to be married. None of her compositions have survived.

Video:

Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel-Lied

Larghetto from Song Without Words, Op. 8, No.3

Larghetto from Song Without Words, Op. 8, No.3

Nannerl isn’t who I want to talk about right now. We’ll get plenty of her from the show this weekend.

I want to talk about Fanny. Fanny Mendelssohn was Felix Mendelssohn’s older sister, by four years, who faced the same fate as Nannerl a few generations later. However, in the case of Fanny her compositions have been preserved.

The similarities between Nannerl and Wolfgang and Fanny and Felix are interesting. Both sisters were four years older. Both brothers were inspired by their sisters.

Both brothers were fantastic prodigies when it came to composing. While Mozart is the ultimate child composer, Mendelssohn’s Midsummer’s Night Dream Overture is equal to anything Mozart composed at the same age.

When I listen to Fanny’s music is strikes me as top-quality German Romanticism. Fanny’s father discouraged her from publishing her compositions as did her brother. A few of her piano works were published under Felix’s name but for the most part she limited herself to parlour music that could be shared in her home.

There are a few larger pieces for orchestra and chorus, but by and large her oeuvre is for solo piano, piano and voice, and a few chamber pieces for trio or quartet.

It is my sincere hope that one of San Diego’s musical institutions will establish a festival for female composers. The San Diego Symphony is doing an American composers festival next season. Maybe we can look for a women’s program sometime soon.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Summit Fellowship wants to be a home of belonging

Unitarian Universalism allows you to be exactly who you are in the moment
Fanny Mendelssohn
Fanny Mendelssohn

The Other Mozart is a play for the stage based on the lIfe of Mozart’s sister Nannerl. The production is here for one night only on Sunday, June 12, 7:30 p.m., at the Balboa Theatre. The play is a part of this year’s Mainly Mozart Festival.

Maria Anna Mozart, or Nannerl, was Wolfgang’s inspiration as a child. She was four and a half years older, and Wolfgang, observing Nannerl’s music lessons a toddler, wanted to play just like her.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The two toured extensively as prodigies, but when Nannerl reached a certain age she was left at home to be married. None of her compositions have survived.

Video:

Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel-Lied

Larghetto from Song Without Words, Op. 8, No.3

Larghetto from Song Without Words, Op. 8, No.3

Nannerl isn’t who I want to talk about right now. We’ll get plenty of her from the show this weekend.

I want to talk about Fanny. Fanny Mendelssohn was Felix Mendelssohn’s older sister, by four years, who faced the same fate as Nannerl a few generations later. However, in the case of Fanny her compositions have been preserved.

The similarities between Nannerl and Wolfgang and Fanny and Felix are interesting. Both sisters were four years older. Both brothers were inspired by their sisters.

Both brothers were fantastic prodigies when it came to composing. While Mozart is the ultimate child composer, Mendelssohn’s Midsummer’s Night Dream Overture is equal to anything Mozart composed at the same age.

When I listen to Fanny’s music is strikes me as top-quality German Romanticism. Fanny’s father discouraged her from publishing her compositions as did her brother. A few of her piano works were published under Felix’s name but for the most part she limited herself to parlour music that could be shared in her home.

There are a few larger pieces for orchestra and chorus, but by and large her oeuvre is for solo piano, piano and voice, and a few chamber pieces for trio or quartet.

It is my sincere hope that one of San Diego’s musical institutions will establish a festival for female composers. The San Diego Symphony is doing an American composers festival next season. Maybe we can look for a women’s program sometime soon.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024
Next Article

March is typically windy, Sage scents in the foothills

Butterflies may cross the county
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.