First Mondays at Jordan Hall: Mendelssohn

Here’s a secret of great artistry: no one does it alone.

This season, First Mondays explore connections and friendships between composers and musicians who inspired each other.

Join us as we celebrate 35 years of First Mondays: well-loved classics and new compositions, performed by some of the finest chamber musicians in the world, free and open to all.

Notes on the program from Artistic Director Laurence Lesser

This fall’s three concerts are a series built on the deep friendship among five great musicians: Clara and Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn, Joseph Joachim, and Johannes Brahms. To varying degrees all were composers and performers.

November 4: Felix Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn, one of history’s truly great musical prodigies, had already established his importance by the age of 16 with the Octet for Strings. His chamber works flowed forth through the rest of his short life.  Equally important to the world was his role in the revival of the music of J.S. Bach. His Berlin performance in 1829 of the St. Matthew Passion rekindled the reputation of an almost forgotten giant. This program interweaves his chamber music with works by Bach that he performed. Incidentally, in 1844 Mendelssohn introduced the 12-year-old Joseph Joachim to the London public in a historic performance of Beethoven’s violin concerto with Mendelssohn conducting.