voices with and without accompaniment, Songs and Part-songs.
The work of publication began with Lauda Sion, which appeared as op. 73, Feb. 15, 1848. This was followed by Athalie, and by other works down to the four Part-songs which form op. 100 and no. 29 of the posthumous works, which came out in Jan. 1852. Here a pause took place. In the meantime, borne down by her great loss, and also by the death of her third boy, Felix, in 1851, Madame Mendelssohn herself died on Sept. 25, 1853. The manuscripts then came into the hands of Dr. Carl Mendelssohn, the eldest son, and after some years publication re-commenced with the Trumpet Overture, which appeared in 1867, and continued at intervals down to the 'Perpetuum mobile' (op. 119).
Many of the pieces referred to in the above enumeration are included in the series of MS. volumes already mentioned. Forty-four of these volumes are now deposited in the Imperial Library at Berlin, in pursuance of an arrangement dated Dec. 23, 1877, by which, in exchange for the possession of them, the German government agreed with the Mendelssohn-Bartholdy family to found two perpetual scholarships of 1500 marks (£75) per annum each, tenable for four years, for the education of students of music elected by competition from the music schools of Germany. The Trustees of the Fund are three—the Director of the High School of Music at Berlin, a second nominated by the government, and a third by the family. The first election took place on Oct. 1, 1879, and the successful candidates were Engelbert Humperdink of Siegburg, and Josef Kotek of Podolia. In addition, Ernst Seyffardt of Crefeld, and Johann Secundus Cruse of Melbourne, Australia, will receive allowances of 750 marks each out of the arrears of the Fund.
Long before the foundation of the Berlin Scholarships, however, practical steps in the same direction had been taken in England. In Nov. 1847 a resolution was passed by the Sacred Harmonic Society of London for the erection of a public memorial in honour of Mendelssohn. £50 was subscribed thereto by the Queen and Prince Consort, and like sums by the Sacred Harmonic and Philharmonic Societies. Other subscriptions were raised amounting in the whole to over £600. In April 1859, after many negotiations, a model of a statue by Mr. C. Bacon was approved by the subscribers; it was cast in bronze in the following November, and on May 4, 1860, was set up on the Terrace of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham.
A more appropriate memorial was the Mendelssohn Scholarship, which originated in Madame Lind-Goldschmidt in the year 1850, and will be found described under its own heading. [See Mendelssohn Scholarship.]
In person Mendelssohn was short, [1]not so much as 5 ft. 6 ins. high, and slight of build; in figure lithe, and very light and mercurial. His look was dark and very Jewish; the face unusually mobile, and ever varying in expression, full of brightness and animation, and with a most unmistakeable look of genius. [App. p.717 "After a breakfast with him at B. Hawes's, Thackeray told Richard Doyle (who told the writer), 'His face is the most beautiful face I ever saw, like what I imagine our Saviour's to have been.' Sir F. Pollock (Reminisc. i. 215) 'was much struck by his fine face and figure, and the excellence of his conversation.'"] His complexion was fresh, and shewed a good deal of colour. His hair was black, thick, and abundant, but very fine, with a natural wave in it, and was kept back from, his forehead, which was high and much developed. By the end of his life, however, it showed a good deal of gray and he began to be bald. His mouth was unusually delicate and expressive, and had generally a pleasant smile at the corners. His whiskers were very dark, and his closely-shaven chin and upper lip were blue from the strength of his beard. His teeth were beautifully white and regular; but the most striking part of his face were the large dark brown eyes. When at rest he often lowered the eyelids as if he were slightly short-sighted which indeed he was; but when animated they gave an extraordinary brightness and fire to his face, and 'were as expressive a pair of eyes as were ever set in a human being's head.' [App. p.717 "They could also sparkle with rage like a tiger's (Moscheles, Life, i. 324)."] When he was playing extempore, or was otherwise much excited, they would dilate and become nearly twice their ordinary size, the brown pupil changing to a vivid black. His laugh was hearty, and frequent; and when especially amused he would quite double up with laughter and shake his hand from the wrist to emphasize his merriment. He would nod his head violently when thoroughly agreeing, so that the hair came down over his face. In fact his body was almost as expressive as his face. His hands were [2]small, with taper fingers. On the keys they behaved almost like 'living[3] and intelligent creatures, full of life and sympathy.' His action at the piano was as free from affectation as everything else that he did, and very interesting. At times, especially at the organ, he leant very much over the keys, as if watching for the strains which came out of his finger tips. He sometimes swayed from side to side, but usually his whole performance was quiet and absorbed.[4]
He refused more than [5]once, from motives of modesty, to have his likeness taken. But a great number of portraits were painted and drawn at different times of his life. The best of these, in the opinion of those most capable of judging, is that painted by his friend Professor Edward Magnus at Berlin in the year 1844. The original of this is in the possession of Madame Lind-Goldschmidt, to whom it was presented by Magnus himself, and although deficient in that lively speaking expression which all admit to have been so characteristic of him, it may be accepted as a good representation. It is very superior to the various replicas and copies in existence, which are distinguished by a hopeless meek solemnity of look, absolutely impossible in the original, and which therefore convey an entirely wrong idea of
- ↑ He was shorter than Sterndale Bennett, who was 5 ft. 6.
- ↑ A cast of his hand can be bought.
- ↑ The Bishop of Limerick.
- ↑ I owe the above description of Mendelssohn's looks chiefly to Mr. John C. Horsley, B.A. Few knew him better, or are more qualified to describe him.
- ↑ L. Dec. 20. 1831; April 3, May 18 1835
