|
DocuSign Envelope ID: D8671365-A26A-45AE-A1 BO-C9F674AC3364
<br /> Musical Travel
<br /> I wanna kiss you in Paris
<br /> I wanna hold your hand in Rome
<br /> —Madonna ("Justify My Love")
<br /> What better inspiration might a composer find than a distant land? Exotic folk melodies, local instruments, birdsong,
<br /> pounding surf on rocky shores, whistling wind in forest treetops, even the cacophony of urban traffic–all may provide
<br /> novel sonic color to enrich the musical palette. Before jet planes decimated time and the internet shrunk the globe to the
<br /> dimensions of a smartphone, travel offered the best firsthand way to expand the composer's aural consciousness.A BBC
<br /> Music Magazine online feature highlights 15 composers, beginning with Felix Mendelssohn, who "risked the physical
<br /> dangers of travel to abandon themselves to the sensations of a fresh environment" (http://www.classical-music.com/
<br /> article/15-travelling-composers).And the compilers of that list somehow overlooked the ultimate journey by a composer,
<br /> namely, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's three-year circumnavigation of the globe as a Russian naval officer. Moreover, even
<br /> composers who never strayed far beyond the borders of their own countries have explored new territory, both geographic
<br /> and temporal, by reading literature, connecting with their family histories, or embracing the diversity of their homelands.
<br /> Mendelssohn: "Italian Symphony"
<br /> The Mendelssohn family had already traveled across a vast cultural span in the two generations before Felix emerged as
<br /> a musical genius. In 1743 a frail 14 year-old named Moses left his hometown Dessau, where his father Mendel worked
<br /> as a scribe of religious scrolls, and followed a rabbinic teacher to Berlin, the capital of Prussia. City archives record his
<br /> inauspicious entry: "Today there passed through the Rosenthaler Gate six oxen,seven swine,one Jew."Against all odds,
<br /> this poor, hunchbacked lad grew into a renowned philosopher, leading the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) movement
<br /> as a champion of education, reason, tolerance, and engagement with modern society. Moses adopted the surname
<br /> Mendelssohn, derived from the Hebrew ben [son of] Mendel. He also became prosperous as business partner to a well-
<br /> off silk merchant. Two of his sons, Joseph and Abraham, founded a successful bank in 1804.
<br /> Abraham married Lea Salomen, granddaughter to an important court banker who had also served as the official head of
<br /> Berlin's Jewish community for 35 years. They had four children. Following a trend towards nationalism and assimilation
<br /> of German Jews into the majority society, the couple quietly arranged baptism for the children as Lutheran Protestants
<br /> and followed suit a few years later, taking the additional name Bartholdy from the estate of another converted relative.
<br /> Biographer R. Larry Todd (Duke University) observes in Mendelssohn: A Life in Music, "Several factors explain the
<br /> growing attraction of conversion. By embracing Christianity, Jewish subjects achieved citizenship, though in reality the
<br /> converted were still susceptible to discrimination. While some baptisms reflected genuine spiritual convictions, others
<br /> were encouraged by the proselytizing zeal of Christians."
<br /> The Mendelssohn children received outstanding educations, mainly with private teachers.Abraham and Lea were avid
<br /> amateur musicians.They recognized that their first child Fanny, born in 1806,and Felix,three years her junior, possessed
<br /> extraordinary gifts. Inevitably, people began to compare these siblings with Maria Anna and Wolfgang Mozart,the famous
<br /> sister-brother pair from the previous century. However, whereas Leopold Mozart aggressively marketed his children's
<br /> precocity for financial gain, carting them around on a three-year Grand Tour of European royal courts, the Mendelssohns
<br /> sought simply to cultivate their offspring's musical talents.
<br /> Felix was tutored in composition by Carl Friedrich Zelter, a highly respected albeit conservative music educator.
<br /> Felix composed prolifically and with sophistication far beyond his years. His parents showcased his works at Sunday
<br /> musicales in their spacious home.Abraham hired a small professional orchestra for these events, and invited the city's
<br />
|