Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, more commonly known as Felix Mendelssohn, composed around 750 works in orchestra, choir, piano, violin, chamber ensembles, and operas.

His most well-known works include the Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream (1826), the Italian Symphony (1833), the Violin Concerto in E minor (1844), and the Elijah oratorio (1846), alongside his heartfelt Songs without Words (1829-1845) for piano, totaling a prolific output despite his tragic, short life. 

Born on February 3, 1809, in Hamburg, Mendelssohn studied composition and piano early with his mother (Lea Mendelssohn Bartholdy) and French pianist Marie Bigot. Composer Carl Friedrich Zelter in Berlin was a crucial mentor, who provided Mendelssohn with rigorous training in composition and helped cement Mendelssohn’s admiration for J.S. Bach’s music. Mendelssohn studied at the Humboldt University of Berlin, where from 1826 to 1829 he wrote, composed, and attended lectures by German philosopher Friedrich Hegel. Hegel influenced Mendelssohn’s vision on Romanticism, the mind and spirit. 

Mendelssohn enjoyed a fruitful yet short-lived professional career, with his works being performed throughout Europe and America. He is best known for his violin concertos, his symphonies, and his religious oratorios.

Later in life, he was involved in founding the Leipzig Conservatory in 1843, Germany’s first university-level music school, serving as the director of its conservatory and the founder of Gewandhousorchester, the oldest civic symphony in the world. 

On November 4th, 1847, Felix Mendelssohn died unexpectedly at the age of 38 after a series of strokes, worsened by overwork and the grief of both his mother and his sister, Fanny Mendelssohn. Despite his short life, he had a prolific career, reviving a strong interest in Bach and influencing a burgeoning early Romanticism in Classical Music.