297. Mendelssohn Bartholdy (Felix, composer, 1809-47) Autograph Letter signed “F” to his mother, 1p. with address panel on verso, sm. 4to, 21st April 1829, reporting on his journey, his impressions of London as being reserved and busy, with a note to his sister Fanny, joking that he had been punished by four days and four nights of sea sickness because he had not thanked her for her kind and lovely song; whilst I lay there fainting, nearly perishing from loneliness and boredom, that was when I started all of a sudden to sing in my dark chamber your forgotten song that I still carried with me. The steward thought I had called him and all the others thought I was feverish but you know what it was and I thank you for the music, and with a small piece of musical notation, small tear where opened, folds, remains of album stub.
est. £2000 – £3000
Apparently unpublished. This is not definitive as the first volume of the complete Mendelssohn correspondence is to be published imminently, publishing many letters for the first time.
Mendelssohn’s first visit to Britain, this letter being written on his first day in England.
“Mendelssohn was fêted by London musicians and society; lasting friendships were formed with families such as the Alexanders, the Attwoods, and the Horsleys, and the congenial musical, political and social atmosphere of Englandwas to prove a lifelong attraction. In July 1829, following the end of the London season, he embarked upon a tour of Scotland with Klingemann... . At Tobermory on Mull on 7 August came the first inspiration for The Hebrides or ‘Fingal’s Cave’ overture, while they visited Staffa and the cave itself the following day, when Mendelssohn suffered badly from seasickness.” - Oxford DNB.
Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-47), later Hensel; sister of Felix and a talented composer in her own right, composing several hundred pieces of music. Owing to the prevailing attitudes of the day Fanny published very little and some was published under Felix’s name.