Born in Hamburg on 3 February 1809, died in Leipzig on 4 November 1847; Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy was a composer, pianist, organist and conductor. He grew up in Berlin, received composition lessons from Carl Friedrich Zelter and came to notice early as a pianist and composer. In 1829 he brought Johann Sebastian Bach’s St Matthew Passion back to performance in Berlin and so founded the Bach revival of the 19th century. From 1833 to 1835 he was municipal music director in Düsseldorf, from 1835 Kapellmeister of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig; in 1843 he founded the Leipzig Conservatory. His output comprises symphonies, concertos, oratorios, chamber music, piano and organ works and songs. The Six Sonatas for the Organ op. 65 were written in 1844/45 at the suggestion of an English publisher and belong to the core repertoire of Romantic organ music. On the Cybele album Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Six Sonatas for the Organ op. 65, Johannes Brahms: Organ Works (2006) Gerd Zacher plays them on an original Walcker organ.
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Composer
