Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel

Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel was born on November 14, 1805, in Hamburg, Germany. Her parents were rather wealthy and education was held very highly in their household. Both Fanny and her three younger siblings were thought Latin, Greek, French, German, geometry, geography, literature, arithmetic and drawing. Fanny also studied piano, first with her mother, then with music teachers in Berlin and Pairs. She was an exceptionally talented pianist, considered even better than her more famous brother, Felix. Her first performance was at one of her family’s Sunday concerts, a tradition started by her grandmother years ago. Poets, writers, musicians and family friends usually attended and they were all astonished when the twelve-year-old Fanny played twenty-four preludes from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier by heart. At the age of 14 she had begun composing her own works.
Fanny composed mainly vocal solos, keyboard pieces, choral works and chamber music. Although she did create many oratorios and cantatas as well as a few quartets, they were not considered suitable for a woman at the time. Her only recorded public performance was in 1838, when she performed Felix's First Piano Concerto for a charity event. She married Wilhelm Hansel in 1820 and they had a son named Sebastian.
Continuing the tradition of the Sunday concerts throughout her life, Fanny made them famous for their quality and originality. These Sonntagsmusiken, as they were known, gave her the freedom to play her own music without fear of them being judged based on her gender. Though both her brother and father discouraged her form pursuing a life of music, she continued composing. First publishing works under her brother’s name, then finally, under her own. She is best known for piano works, such as her Farwell to Rome and composed over five-hundred musical pieces. Most were not