in later life to be closely connected. The new theatre opened on Nov. i. He and Immermann quarrelled as to precedence, or as to the distribution of the duties. The selection of singers and musicians, the bargaining with them, and all the countless worries which beset a manager, and which, by a new agreement, he had to undertake, proved a most uncongenial and moreover a most wasteful task; so uncongenial that at last, the day after the opening of the theatre, he suddenly 'made a salto mortale' and threw up all [1]connection with it, not without considerable irritability and [2]inconsistency. After this he continued to do his other duties, and to conduct occasional operas, Julius Rietz being his assistant. With the spring [App. p.716 "opening"] of 1835 he received an invitation from Leipzig through Mr. Schleinitz, which resulted in his taking the post of Conductor of the Gewandhaus Concerts there. His [3]answers to the invitation show not only how very careful he was not to infringe on the rights of others, but also how clearly and practically he looked at all the bearings of a question before he made up his mind upon it. Before the change, however, several things happened. He conducted the Lower Rhine Festival for 1835 at Cologne (June 7–9). The principal works were Handel's Solomon—for which he had written an organ part in Italy; Beethoven's Symphony No. 8, and Overture Op. 124, a 'religious march' and hymn of Cherubini's, and the Morning Hymn of his favourite J. F. Reichardt. The Festival was made more than ordinarily delightful to him by a present of Arnold's edition of Handel in 32 vols. from the committee. His father, mother, and sisters were all there. The parents then went back with him to Düsseldorf; there his mother had a severe attack of illness, which prevented his taking them home to Berlin till the latter part of [4]July. At Cassel the father too fell ill, and Felix's energies were fully taxed on the [5]road. He remained with them at Berlin till the end of August, and then left for Leipzig to make the necessary preparations for beginning the subscription concerts in the Gewandhaus on Oct. 4. His house at Leipzig was in Reichel's garden, off the Promenade. Chopin visited him during the interval, and Felix had the pleasure of introducing him to Clara Wieck, then a girl of 16. [App p.716 "His first introduction to Schumann is said to have taken place at Wieck's house on Oct. 3, the day before the Gewandhaus Concert at which Clara played Beethoven's B♭ trio. (Moscheles, Life, i. 301.)"] Later came his old Berlin friend David from Russia to lead the [6]orchestra, and Moscheles from London for a lengthened visit. Mendelssohn's new engagement began with the best auspices. The relief from the worries and responsibilities of Düsseldorf was [7]immense, and years [8]afterwards he refers to it as 'when I first came to Leipzig and thought I was in Paradise.' He was warmly welcomed on taking his seat, and the first concert led off with his Meeresstille Overture.
Rebecka passed through Leipzig on Oct. 14, on her way from Belgium, and Felix and Moscheles accompanied her to Berlin for a visit of two days, returning to Leipzig for the next concert. Short as the visit was, it was more than usually gay. The house was full every evening, and by playing alternately, by playing four hands, and by the comical extempore tricks of which the two friends were so fond, and which they carried on to such perfection, the parents, especially the father, now quite blind, were greatly mystified and [9]amused. And well that it was so, for it was Felix's last opportunity of gratifying the father he so tenderly loved and so deeply reverenced. At half-past 10 a.m. on Nov. 19, 1835, Abraham Mendelssohn was dead. He died the death of the just, passing away, as his father had done, without warning, but also without pain. He turned over in his bed, saying that he would sleep a little; and in half an hour he was gone. Hensel started at once for Leipzig, and by Sunday morning, the 22nd, Felix was in the arms of his mother. How deeply he felt under this peculiarly heavy blow the reader must gather from his own letters. It fell on him with special force, because he was not only away from the family circle, but had no home of his own, as Fanny and Rebecka had, to mitigate the loss. He went back to Leipzig stunned, but determined to do his duty with all his might, finish St. Paul, and thus most perfectly fulfil his father's wishes. He had completed the revision of his Melusina Overture on Nov. 17, only three days before the fatal news reached him, and there was nothing to hinder him from finishing the oratorio. [App. p.716 "He had played in Bach's Concerto in D minor for three pianos with Clara Wieck and Rakemann at the Gewandhaus on Nov. 9."]
The business of the day, however, had to go on. One of the chief events in this series of concerts was a performance of the 9th Symphony of [10]Beethoven, Feb. 11, 1836. Another was Mendelssohn's performance of Mozart's D minor Concerto 'as written' (for it seems to have been always hitherto played after some [11]adaptation), on Jan. 29, with cadences which electrified his audience. Leipzig was particularly congenial to Mendelssohn. He was the idol of the town, had an orchestra full of enthusiasm and devotion, a first-rate coadjutor in David, who took much of the mechanical work of the orchestra off his shoulders; and moreover he was relieved of all business arrangements, which were transacted by the committee, especially by Herr Schleinitz. Another point in which he could not but contrast his present position favourably with that at Düsseldorf was the absence of all rivalry or jealousy. The labour of the season however was severe, and he [12]confesses that the first two months had taken more out of him than two years composing would do. The University of Leipzig showed its appreciation of his presence by conferring on him the degree of Phil. Doc. in [13]March.
Meantime Schelble's illness had cancelled the arrangement for producing St. Paul at Frankfort, and it had been secured for the Lower
- ↑ L. Nov. 4, 23.
- ↑ This is brought out in his father's letter, ii. 58. See also Nov. 4.
- ↑ L. Jan. 26 and April 16, 1835.
- ↑ Letter to Mrs. Volgt, Düsseldorf, July 17, 1835.
- ↑ Letter to Schadow, in Polko 193.
- ↑ He joined definitely Feb. 25, 1836, after Matthal's death (A.M.Z. 1836, 133).
- ↑ Letter to Hildebrandt in P. 191; also Hiller 47.
- ↑ L. June 15, 1839.
- ↑ F.M. i. 422.
- ↑ A.M.Z. 1838, 273.
- ↑ Ibid. 106.
- ↑ To Hiller, L. Doc. 10, 1837.
- ↑ A.M.Z. 1836, 216.
