Mendelssohn: The greatest Jewish composer?
Seven surprising facts
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Print1. Mendelssohn wrote the music used for the song, “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.”
2. His own critical comment about his “Hebrides” overture: too much counterpoint and not enough seagulls.
3. He may have had an affair with Jenny Lind, “the Swedish Nightingale.” There is supposed to be in existence a letter in which Mendelssohn proposed that the two of them elope to America.
4. Jenny Lind was distraught when Mendelssohn died. She endowed a scholarship in his memory for a promising English composer. The first winner, in 1854, was Arthur Sullivan, age 14 — later of Gilbert & Sullivan fame.
5. His grandfather was a wise and observant Jew, Moses Mendelssohn. Moses was a hunchback, and when he proposed marriage to a beautiful young woman, she had reservations. So he said to her, when I was born, my future wife was also named. But alas, I was told, she will have a dreadful hunchback. She will become bitter and unhappy. So I prayed, dear lord, give me the hunchback, and let the maiden be well made and agreeable! Upon being told this, she agreed to marry him.
6. All was not sweetness and light between Felix and Fanny. Once, when they were young, she rummaged through his belongings. He wrote her an angry note: “You must get a rap on the knuckles … are you the inquisition? Do you spy on me? … You were in my room? Prying into my things?... Take care, fair flower, take care!”
7. He also had issues with his younger brother, Paul. As an adult, he wrote to him that their disputes were now over — “since the morning when we were quarreling so awfully and I threw you off the chair, whereupon you scratched me, whereupon I told on
More on: Mendelssohn: The greatest Jewish composer?
Who was the greatest Jewish composer? That question is especially hard to answer considering that three strong candidates — Felix Mendelssohn, Jacques Offenbach, and Gustav Mahler — all were converts to Christianity. Mahler converted because only a Christian could conduct the Vienna State Opera; Offenbach was marrying a Christian woman. Mendelssohn was converted to Lutheranism at age 7.
This is the 200th anniversary of Mendelssohn’s birth, and his music is being played everywhere. I’ll be speaking about him to the senor adult department at the Bergen County YJCC on Thursday at 1 p.m. (To register, call Devra Kanter, (201) 666-6610, ex. 263.)
Flag CommentMendelssohn ‘fact’ is a baseless rumour
The third point of Warren Boroson’s column “Mendelssohn: The greatest Jewish composer? Seven surprising facts” (Oct. 23) is no fact at all. Leaked to the London press in January 2009, it is a baseless rumour that Mendelssohn proposed in 1847 to elope with Jenny Lind to America.
New research by the Brussels-based association Icons of Europe, posted online at iconsofeurope.com, shows that: (a) no evidence has been provided to support the rumour; (b) Jenny Lind’s widower Otto Goldschmidt manipulated the translation of a letter in the 1891 English-language Memoir of his late wife to convey the false impression of an affair between her and Mendelssohn (to hide her secret engagement to somebody else); and (c) a Jenny Lind letter currently copied on the website of the Royal Academy of Music, London appears to be fabricated by Goldschmidt for the same deceitful purpose.
Such manipulation of the legacy of Mendelssohn and Jenny Lind must be rooted out in order to protect the cultural heritage of Europe and the bridge it provides to the United States.
Jens A. Jorgensen, Brussels
President, Icons of Europe asbl
Baseless? After Jenny Lind’s husband vouched for it?
Wikipedia writes:
“The evidence for such an affair is contested by Cecile and Jens Jorgensen, but also without any hard evidence.[32]
Some people who have seen the letter say the reports are true.
God only knows what is meant by protecting “the cultural heritage of Europe and the bridge it provides to the United States.”
I suspect that, if the letter is authentic, Mendelssohn was joking.
He was too much of a stuffed shirt to have been serious.
WB
In reply to Warren Boroson’s comment:
1. Icons of Europe’s research shows that Jenny Lind’s widower Otto Goldschmidt is an unreliable source of information (ref. the evidence online, as well as the newly discovered scheme to hide the identify of Jenny Lind’s Swedish fiancé in 1847 and her relationship with Chopin in 1848-1849)
2. In general, Wikipedia is said often not to provide trustworthy information, as it can easily be edited by people with their own agenda. Any scholar knows that.
3. The rumour is based on hearsay, but presented in WB’s article under the heading of “facts”. It is the responsibility of the source and handlers of the rumour – not the audience – to provide the evidence (check The Publishing Law Handbook). The ‘counter-research’ and common sense have already gone a long way to expose the hollowness of the rumour.
4. It is pure speculation, on top of the rumour, to “suspect” that “if the letter …”, Mendelssohn was joking. With that kind of reasoning, anything can be postulated.
5. God’s and your own understanding of “cultural heritage” is irrelevant for the whole issue.
The question is really, why do some people care to raise such a flippant if not damaging rumour based only hearsay in the very year of Mendelssohn’s 200-year anniversary?
Yah, Warren Boroson, who normally writes about the stock market, does not even provide the source of his assumption “There is supposed to be in existence a letter ...”.
Boroson seems to be eager to spread unfavourable rumours about Mendelssohn, on which no evidence has been presented as far as I can see. Doing a little research of my own, I found that he has now also posted his seven so-called ‘facts’ in an article at the New Jersey Newsroom: http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/movies/mendelssohn-celebrating-his-200th-birthday-with-a-talk
In France, such a ‘journalistic’ approach could end up in court as defamation. What’s the practice in USA?
Jorgensen neglects to mention that Icons of Europe is his outfit. And what evidence has his outfit come up with? The argument that Otto Goldschmidt forged documents is weird.
I wrote that M. may have written a letter proposing that he and Jenny Lind elope. That is a fact. Does J. not know what the word “fact” means?
While I myself have criticized Wikipedia, sometimes its articles are impressive. Eg, the article on Mendelssohn. Dismissing everything in Wikipedia is foolish.
The rumor is not flippant and it is not damaging. And there may be some truth to the report. Why else has the letter not been revealed?
As for deBeaumont’s letter (I suspect he’s an ally of Jorgensen), I’m impressed that he did research to discover that my article was printed elsewhere. So he knows something about Google! He deserves to be elected to the Academy francaise, if not to be awarded the croix de guerre.
Unfavorable rumors? I find the notion that M. wrote such a letter delightful. And my opinion of M. would rise if it proves to be true.
De B. seems to think I may be sued.
I have shocking news for de B.
Felix Mendelssohn is dead. So is Jenny Lind. So they won’t be suing me.
He should continue doing his prodigious research, visit a library, and look up biographies of these two people. Under the letters M and L.
Yes, I normally write about personal finance. I also write about residential real estate. And psychology. I’ve even written articles on why blondes allegedly have more fun, and the etiquette of dueling. And I’ve won quite a few journalistic awards.
The notion that M. is being insulted by the well-founded rumor that he sent that letter to Jenny Lind is absurd.
Are these two letter writers serious?
Really a good and interactive post, i think the post is informative and knowledge providing both in regard of current affairs and present economic Situations.
This is an interesting thread, but several things bother me about the comments above.
First of all, what’s with this perverse glorification of adultery? It seems to be in lockstep with the dumb notion that to be a truly great artist one has to lead a life of moral dissolution. Poor Mendelssohn had the temerity to be a principled and moral man and also to lead an overall happy life. Yet the above poster would hold the happily married composer in higher esteem if it were proven that he planned to abandon his wife and five children. Unbelievable! One can only speculate what Mendelssohn himself would think of such a notion.
I have studied the lives of both Mendelssohn and Jenny Lind in some depth over the past year and have reached my own conclusions. Although it is clear to me that Jenny did fall in love with the composer, an affair with a married man would have not only run contrary to her pious and moral nature but have endangered a career that depended almost as much on her virtuous image as it did on her sublime voice. Mendelssohn must have realized this too.
After reading the Jorgensen’s intriguing book about Chopin’s relationship with Lind, I like to think that there was a friendship between the two, but there is no real proof of any romantic liaison. Regrettably, there are no letters between the two to substantiate such a claim. Moreover, I see absolutely no motive for Goldschmidt to willfully besmirch the memory of a wife he loved and Mendelssohn, whom he admired. And just what would the reason be to cover up a romance between his late wife and Chopin who were both unmarried at the time?
So, left with that mysterious little document in the Mendelssohn Archive, we cannot help but wonder why it isn’t released. 1847 was a difficult and stressful year for the composer who suffered from poor health, endless work and the death of his beloved sister Fanny. Could he have suffered a nervous breakdown? Possibly. Would I admire Mendelssohn the man and the artist any less were the rumors proven true? Probably not. Even virtuous people make mistakes on occasion.
Happy birthday, Felix!
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