150th anniversary of death of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy - Germany / Federal Republic of Germany 1997 - 110 Pfennig

The composer Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born on February 3, 1809 in Hamburg, died on November 4, 1847 in Leipzig, is regarded as one of the first European Tonkünstler and composers of rank whose effect and influence were not limited to Germany during his lifetime, but also aired on France and England. Friendly with the most important personalities of his time in art and science, the composer incorporated many extra-musical ideas into his work. The catalog raisonné today includes nearly 250 compositions, including the Jugendwerke, sounding documents of a versatile and restlessly creative composer, whose oeuvre includes all musical genres (including symphonic works, chamber music, stage works, piano pieces as »songs without words«, organ music and a Revival of the "Baroque" Oratory). Mendelssohn's popular symphonies such as the "Scottish", the "Italian" or the violin concerto are now an integral part of the concert business. Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy has not only emerged as a composer, but also as a pianist on concert tours throughout Europe and as conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. What he, as a pedagogue, was able to implement in reforming the Leipzig Conservatory must still today be regarded as exemplary for the operation of a conservatoire. (Text: Peter Daners M.A., Bonn)