Friday, November 4, 2022

*** This is a rough transcript of today’s show ***

It is the 4th of November, 2022. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

It was on the 4th of November in 1847 that Felix Mendelssohn died unexpectedly at the age of 38- but his brief life would intersect with many luminaries of that century- and to understand him, we begin with a Jewish philosopher and Napoleon.

Felix was the son of Abraham and Lea Salomon; Abraham was the son of Moses Mendelssohn, a famous Jewish philosopher who translated parts of the Hebrew bible and injected Jewish thought into the German Enlightenment. His sons, however, would not be scholars but instead bankers. The Mendelssohn banking family would last until the institution was taken over through the anti-semitic business rules during the Third Reich.

But another tyrant, Napoleon, implemented a banking freeze during his war with the English. The Mendelssohn bank would not abide by the ban, and when Napoleon’s forces came to Hamburg, the family fled to Berlin in 1811. Felix was only 2 when they left, and it was in Berlin in 1816 that the family would leave the Jewish faith and have young Felix baptized. He would take the name Jakob Ludwig but continue to go by Felix. Soon the rest of his family would be baptized and take the word Bartholdy, this name too Felix would eschew.

The Mendelssohn family home was a regular meeting place for Berlin intellectuals, and many took to the talented children. Felix would give his first public piano performance at 9 in 1818. He went on a tour of Europe three years later and met Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in Weimar, who proclaimed the young man better than Mozart.

In 1829 he conducted Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion- the first time it had been played since Bach’s death in 1750. Johann Sebastian’s music had gone into obscurity- in an age of Classical musicians and budding Romantics; there was little knowledge of the famous Baroque musician. It was Mendelssohn who reintroduced and popularized Bach.

He would travel broadly; in Scotland, he would visit the Hebrides and write a famous piece based on his impressions; he would meet Sir Walter Scott and then in England, Queen Victoria, who proclaimed him her favorite composer. When her eldest daughter was married to the German Emperor, she requested they use the Wedding March from Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream- you probably know it (Dan hums awkwardly)- it’s been the standard ever since. Mendelssohn’s setting to the music of Shakespeare’s play remains one of his most famous pieces.

In 1836 at his father's request, he completed an Oratorio based on the life of St. Paul; ten years later, he composed another Oratorio based on the life of the prophet Isaiah.

He would marry in 1837, Cecile Jeanrenaud was the daughter of a minister, and the two had five children. In 1843 he opened a conservatory in Leipzig where he would teach. He was close to his older sister, Fanny, a composer and pianist. Her death in May of 1847 weighed heavily on him. He was known to have bouts of what we might call manic-depressive episodes. He would often work himself into states of mental exhaustion- a combination of his nerves, poor health, and his sister's death led to several strokes that led to his death on the 4th of November in 1847. He was only 38 years old but had not only reinvigorated his interest in Bach, written his works and begun the transition in music from Classical to Romantic- today, we remember Felix Mendelssohn.

The Last Word for today comes from the lectionary for today from Acts 24:

10 When the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul replied: “I know that for a number of years you have been a judge over this nation; so I gladly make my defense. 11 You can easily verify that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. 12 My accusers did not find me arguing with anyone at the temple, or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city. 13 And they cannot prove to you the charges they are now making against me. 14 However, I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, 15 and I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. 16 So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 4th of November 2022, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man whose favorite Felix’s include Mendelssohn, Unger, Supreme Court Justice Frankfurter, and the Cat- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who can’t believe Felix Frankfurter was a real person- what a name, I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.