Sigma Alpha Iota

REVIEWs Ferdinand and Felix: A Friendship Told Through Letters By Jayne I. Hanlin I magine you are a contestant on the television program Jeopardy. Music is the category. A ticket purchase for this Dutch concert hall includes free public tram rides there and back as well as two free drinks. Would you know the correct question? It is: What is the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam? Both the Concertgebouw's Grote Zaal (or "Great Hall") seating 2,000 and the small auditorium seating 500 have wall plaques with composers' names in gold lettering. Scanning all of them at a recent concert there, I was puzzled about the identity of Hiller. Who was he? As I discovered later, Ferdinand Hiller (1811-1885) was the dedicatee of Schumann's piano concerto and several of Chopin's pieces. Hiller was given a lock of hair of Beethoven at his deathbed. A protégé of Cherubini, Hiller, a German composer (who made his piano debut at ten years old), was a pupil of Johann Neopomuk Hummel. He was also the teacher of Max Bruch and Engelbert Humperdinck. And he was a close friend of Liszt and Chopin. Of special interest to modern-day musicians, however, is that Hiller saved the many letters he received from his dear friend Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847). When I found out about this correspondence, I purchased the 223-page digitized version of Mendelssohn, Letters and Recollections (translated by M. E. Von Glehn) originally published in London by Macmillian and Co. in 1874. (There are several modern reprints that cost about $20.) Hiller's inspiring book provides a fascinating insight into the character and life of Mendelssohn. As its title indicates, within the volume are Mendelssohn's letters along with Hiller's narratives based on his own journals. Being the genius he was, Mendelssohn could improvise a musical theme, combining a well-known one of his with one of Bach's and cleverly uniting them into something new. Hiller describes the talents of the sixteen-yearold Mendelssohn: "I hardly know which was most wonderful — the skilful counterpoint, the flow and continuity of the thoughts, or the fire, expression, and extraordinary execution which characterized his playing." (Page 5) Hiller emphasizes that this kind of genius was not merely the result of hours of practice. Mendelssohn possessed an incredible memory. He easily retained music he had learned by heart and played out-of-the-way pieces in occasional "name that composer" guessing games with friends. When sitting at the piano, he could play compositions for other instruments but make them sound as if they were originally for solo piano instead. At a friend's house, Hiller was asked to play Beethoven's Emperor Concerto. But there were only string players to accompany him, so at another keyboard, Mendelssohn filled in all the wind parts from memory. Imagine that! Mendelssohn was more than a gifted pianist and composer. He was an excellent chess player, could paint and draw, and helped establish the Leipzig Conservatoire. In Berlin, when he was only 20, he revived interest in Johann Sebastian Bach's music with a performance of St. Matthew Passion. In Leipzig, during the last twelve years of his life (with the exception of one season when Hiller was on the podium), Mendelssohn was the beloved conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra. Hiller remembers that: ... all the little imperfections in individual execution were thrown into the background by the spirit and life which Mendelssohn instilled into the orchestra, his complete devotion to the cause, and the delight which lit up his expressive features at every successful achievement, and acted like electricity upon the public. When I speak of his conducting thus influencing the audience, it must not be supposed that he in any way courted notice by his behavior at the desk. His movements were short and decided, and generally hardly visible for he turned his right side to the orchestra. A mere glance at the first fiddle, a slight look one way or the other, was sufficient. It was the sympathy in the cause, which gathered strength from the sympathy brought to bear on it by so wonderful a man. (Page 157) Clearly, Mendelssohn was not uppity. His life was characterized by kindness and good nature both in deeds and words, an electrifying enthusiasm, and mental equanimity amid distraction. He was always reticent whenever he played one of his new compositions to intimate friends. He did not wish his expert playing to increase the impression made by the actual work. Unquestionably, he genuinely loved his wife, Cécile: "What's the good of all the double counterpoint in the world when she is not with me?" (Page 101) He was generous in sharing his expertise Recognizing the talent of Hiller, Mendelssohn offered his friend help by giving him editing suggestions for his compositions without ever offending him. Once in December, Mendelssohn took home the libretto of Hiller's oratorio (The Destruction of Jerusalem, Op. 24), kindly surprising him on Christmas Eve with a new copy he had made himself. Hiller writes: "I need not explain how useful his severe critical remarks were to my composition. One day when I thanked him he said: 'I only show you what you would have found out for yourself in a few months.'" (Page 167) On another occasion, expressing humility, Mendelssohn graciously accepted and implemented a suggestion from Hiller, telling him, "That is to remain as a remembrance of you." (Page 155) It was uncharacteristic of Mendelssohn to be negative, but writing on August 7, 1836, he detailed his gripes about living then in The Hague, Netherlands. Toward the end of this letter, perhaps feeling a bit guilty by its content, he penned, "If you show this letter to anybody I wish you may be roasted, and anyhow I should 10 PAN PIPES WINTER 2013 sai-national.org winter 13 PP.indd 10 2/12/2013 2:15:04 PM

• Cover