Romantic composer, Fanny (Cäcilie) Mendelssohn Bartholdy Hensel (1805-1847), was a German composer and pianist. Her younger brother was Felix Mendlessohn. She studied the works of Bach, and was trained in composition and piano. In 1829, Fanny married Wilhelm Hensel with whom she had one son. Hensel supported Fanny, both as a performer and a composer. He helped her to get her works published under her own name in 1846.
Overall, Fanny composed more than 460 pieces of music. These range from cantatas to piano quartets, orchestral overtures, to piano trios. Fanny’s main compositional strength was the Lieder (German art song), she composed 250 of them! A number of Fanny’s pieces, have been attributed to Felix. One of these is her “Italien” Lieder. When Felix was invited to perform for Queen Victoria in Buckingham Palace, she made a special request for him to play Italien. So, Felix had to explain that this beautiful song was actually the work of his sister, Fanny.
Here’s a clip of Fanny’s No. 2 in G major. This was one of the songs that was put in Felix’s Op 8 and 9 collections.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Mendelssohn (image)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/cfb00fff-8895-484a-b459-f050d70abe2c
https://www.classical-music.com/features/articles/six-best-works-fanny-mendelssohn/
https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/fanny-and-felix-mendelssohn/
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