Encounter IV

Songs without Words: Mendelssohn’s Last Year, with Ara Guzelimian

THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2009
7:30 p.m., Martin Family Hall, Menlo School
Tickets: $40 adult; $20 student

In 1847, the last year of his life, Mendelssohn faced the unimaginable loss of his beloved sister Fanny. He sought refuge in the Swiss Alps, where he composed his profoundly affecting String Quartet in f minor, op. 80, as a personal requiem to Fanny. The season’s final Encounter explores this remarkable work with the members of the Pacifica Quartet; other festival artists provide a sampling of works from Mendelssohn’s final year. As this summer’s exploration of Mendelssohn draws to a close, Ara Guzelimian examines the critical response to Mendelssohn’s music both within his own time and in the 150 years since his death.

More Encounters:

Encounter I »
Encounter II »
Encounter III »

Image: Rudolf Julius Benno Huebner (1806–1882): Felix Mendelssohn on his deathbed, ca. 1847. Pencil on paper. (Private collection/The Bridgeman Art Library)