In 2009 music lovers all over the world will celebrate the 200th birthday of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, who is now generally considered to be one of the morst important artists of 19th century Europe.

Born in Hamburg February 3, 1809, he grew up in Berlin where he was provided with a comprehensive classical education. At an unusually early age his exceptional musical talent became clear and was encouraged by a number of well-known teachers. From the age of 9 he composed short musical pieces, followed by his first symphony for string-instruments at the age of 12.

By his early death at the age of 38 he had written more than 400 pieces of music: Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy is famous for his comprehensive and significant creations in the field of symphonies, choral symphonies and chamber music. He created many of his works while travelling through Germany and other European countries, like the British Isles, France, Italy and Switzerland. In his church music, the centre of which you can find are great oratorios Paulus and Elijah, you can find the influence of three confessions. As an intermediary between the religions, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy is of major significance to society even today.

The composer took up his first permanent post as the city of Düsseldorf’s conductor before he was asked to be the conductor of the famous Gewandhaus concert hall in Leipzig at the age of only 26. Until his early death November 4, 1847, this position would always provide him with a close link to Leipzig, the city of music, where he also founded the first German music conservatory.

It was also in Leipzig that Kurt Masur started a renaissance of Mendelssohn’s works, first with exceptional interpretations of his early symphonies, which the maestro recorded with the Leipzig Gewandhaus-Orchestra in 1972. A little later further recordings of Mendelssohn’s main oevres followed, confirming his reputation as a composer of world-wide significance. Today, Leipzig is the centre of research on Mendelssohn. After all, this is where you can find the edition of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s work (at the Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Saxony’s Academy of Sciences) and his letters (at Leipzig University and the German Research Foundation).

Several Mendelssohn associations, societies and many music institutions as well as radio stations have decided to cooperate in order to honour this composer, cosmopolitan and organisor of cultural events and to arrange for a comprehensive programme. This will include a number of concerts, readings, scientific conferences, as well as exhibitions and various educational offers by museums. The aim of these activities is to provide even better information on the great work of Mendelssohn all over the world, to spread his reputation even further and to present the work that he did in the interest of people and music. At the same time, music lovers from all over the world should be made aware of the various cities involved in promoting Mendelssohn’s work and of their individual traditions.

We would like to wholeheartedly invite you to come and enjoy the places where Mendelssohn lived and worked and the various musical offers provided here. Gain an insight into this atmosphere of tradition and modern lifestyle. The programme on the following pages will be constantly updated and expanded.

Please feel free to contact us should you have any questions.

Christiane Schmidt

Translation by

Britta Hofmann