With the death of Felix Mendelssohn in Leipzig on November 4, 1847 after a series of strokes at only the age of 38, the music world lost one of its most brilliant lights. When the composer's funeral was held at the Paulinerkirche in Leipzig, his pallbearers included Ignaz Moscheles, Robert Schumann and Niels Gade—just several of the countless who admired this brilliant artist. In a letter, Mendelssohn had once described death as a place "where it is to be hoped there is still music, but no more sorrow or partings."
We will remember Mendelssohn on the anniversary of his passing with both his final orchestral work, the beloved Violin Concerto in E Minor, and his final work of all, the String Quartet in No. 6, in F Minor, Op. 80, as well as a choral masterwork by the great composer whose music Mendelsohn almost single-handedly helped revive in the 19th Century, Johann Sebastian Bach, as we hear highlights from his great B Minor Mass.
You can hear Foley Schuler's musical selections—and stories behind the music—weekday afternoons from 1 until 4 on blue Lake Public Radio.
