Fanny: The other Mendelssohn is a documentary film which premiered in 2023.
The topic of this film is the life and work of the German musician and composer Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, sister of the famous musician and composer Felix Mendelssohn.
** Fanny = 1805-1847
** Felix = 1809-1847
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Writer, producer, and director: Sheila Hayman
** Language: English
** Subtitles: not available!
** Released on DVD in 2024
** Run time: 97 minutes
Several persons are interviewed in this film
Here are the names of the participants
Listed in alphabetic order:
** Dr Anna Beer (born 1964) – a British historian
** Dr. Marcia Citron – editor and translator of The Letters of Fanny Hensel to Felix Mendelssohn (1987)
** Henri-Jacques Coudert – producer of the 1972 recording of the Easter Sonata
** Eric Heidsieck (born 1936) – a concert pianist and composer
** Dr. Angela Mace – a Fanny Mendelssohn scholar – Duke University
** Isata Kanneh-Mason – a pianist
** Alison Langer – lyric soprano
** Robert Owen Lehman – Music Manuscript Collection, the Morgan Library and Museum, New York
** Robinson McClellan – music curator, Morgan Library and Museum, New York
** Chi-Chi Nwanoku – Director of Chineke!
** Tim Parker-Langston – tenor – publisher of the website Hensel Songs Online
** Dr. Marie Rolf – Professor Emerita, Eastman School of Music
** Sarah Rothenberg – a concert pianist
** Dr. Roland Schmidt-Hensel – The Mendelssohn Archive, Berlin, Germany
** R. Larry Todd (born 1952) – professor of Music at Duke University – author of Fanny Hensel: The Other Mendelssohn (2009)
Fanny Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg in 1805. Her brother Felix was born in 1809. In 1811, when Fanny and Felix were children, the family moved to Berlin.
Fanny and Felix were both talented musicians and composers. But Felix was a boy, while Fanny was a girl. In the nineteenth century, music could be a profession for a man but not for a woman.
When Fanny was no longer a girl, when she was a young woman, her father told her she had to focus on finding a suitable husband, on getting married, and after that on having children.
Felix felt the same way as his father. Fanny could play music at home, this was accepted, but she should not give concerts in public and she should certainly not try to make money from her music. Only a man could do that.
Fanny met her future husband in 1821, when she was still a teenager, but her family did not allow them to have any contact with each other. The more the family tried to keep them apart, the more they wanted to get together.
The future husband was Wilhelm Hensel, a painter who was born in 1894.
In 1829, Fanny and Wilhelm were married. When she married Wilhelm, she took his family name and she became Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel.
In 1830, the couple had a son Sebastian who lived a long life. He died in 1898.
His father Wilhelm Hensel died in 1861.
His mother Fanny Hensel died in May 1847
Fanny’s brother Felix died in November 1847, only six months after his sister
Fanny was not only a talented musician; she was also a composer. But only a few of her works were published in her own lifetime. Some of them were published under her brother’s name!
In her short life, Fanny composed more than 450 musical pieces. Most of them were not published in her own lifetime. Since the 1980s, there has been renewed interest in her compositions.
The story of Felix Mendelssohn and his sister Fanny is somewhat similar to the story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his sister Maria Anna, whose nickname was Nannerl.
All four were talented musicians and composers, but the times in which they lived did not treat them in the same way.
The two brothers were encouraged to focus on a public career in the world of music, while the two sisters were told to focus on getting married and having children.
For many years, Wolfgang’s sister was not well-known, while Wolfgang was famous all over the world.
For many years, Felix’s sister as not well-known, while Felix was famous all over the world.
In recent years, the two sisters have been rediscovered and their role in the world of music is no longer forgotten or ignored.
This film covers the life and work of Fanny Hensel (born Mendelssohn) in great detail.
Sheila Hayman is not only the writer, producer, and director of this film. She is also the narrator. What is her interest in this topic? Why did she want to create a film about Fanny Hensel? What is the reason?
She has a personal reason. She is related to Fanny Hensel. She is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Fanny Hensel.
Sheila Hayman created this film, because she wanted to discover the full story of her ancestor and she wanted the whole world to know the story as well.
One item gets a lot of attention in this film: the Easter Sonata which Fanny composed in 1828. This work was not published in her own lifetime.
After her death in 1847, the manuscript was lost for more than 100 years. In 1970, it was rediscovered in Paris.
Since it was marked F. Mendelssohn, it was assumed it was composed by Felix. A few observers suggested that the letter F could stand for Fanny, but it seemed there was no way to prove this suggestion.
In 2010, the American scholar Angela Mace from Duke University travelled to Paris to study the original manuscript. Before going to Paris, she had carefully studied the personal letters of Fanny.
When she compared the old manuscript with the letters written by Fanny, it was obvious that the handwriting was identical: Fanny - not Felix - was the composer of the Easter Sonata.
The Sonata was played by Eric Heidsieck and recorded in 1972. The producer of the recording was Henri-Jacques Coudert. At that time, it was still assumed that the sonata was the work of Felix.
Since 2010, the sonata has been performed and recorded on more than one occasion. Since 2010, the sonata has been known as the work of Fanny.
On 05 October 2022, Isata Kanneh-Mason performed the long-lost Easter Sonata for a public audience in the Edgar Concert Hall at the University of Birmingham. Excerpts of this concert are shown in Sheila Hayman’s film.
The story is interesting. It deserves to be told, and in this film, it is done very well.
If you are interested in European history – including the history of European culture and music – this film is definitely something for you.
It is highly recommended.
REFERENCES
# 1. Items available online
Sheila Hayman
“A Fanny Mendelssohn masterpiece finally gets its due,”
The Guardian
08 March 2017
Brigit Katz
“Sonata by Fanny Mendelssohn, Mistakenly Attributed to Her Brother, Premieres Under Her Name,”
The Smithsonian Magazine
08 March 2017
Kyle MacMillan
“Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel finally moves out of her brother’s shadow,”
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
14 April 2021
Peter Bradshaw
“Fanny: The Other Mendelssohn review – overdue recognition for a groundbreaking genius,”
The Guardian
23 October 2023
Peter Bradshaw offers four of five stars which corresponds to a rating of 80 percent
# 2. Film and video
Great Composers:
Fanny Mendelssohn
A short documentary film
Run time: 4 minutes
(2017)
Available on YouTube
Did Felix Mendelssohn steal his sister’s work?
A short documentary film by Beth Roars
Run time: 11 minutes
(2021)
Available on YouTube
La Soeur géniale:
Fanny Hensel (née Mendelssohn)
A documentary film
Director and writer: Anna Schmidt
Run time: 53 minutes
(2023)
Available on YouTube
Fanny Mendelssohn:
Die vergessene Romantikerin
A short documentary film
Run time: 14 minutes
(2024)
This film was shown on Arte TV
# 3. Books
The Letters of Fanny Hensel to Felix Mendelssohn
Edited and translated by Marcia Judith Citron
(1987)
Fanny Mendelssohn
By Françoise Tillard
French original published 1992
English translation by Camille Naish
(1996)
The Mendelssohns:
The Music in History
Edited by John M. Cooper and Julie D. Prandi
(2002)
Fanny Hensel: The Other Mendelssohn
By R. Larry Todd
(2009 = hardcover)
(2014 = paperback)
*****
The German musician and composer
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel
(1805-1847)
*****
