Fanny Hensel's 216th Birthday

Google Dooles 13.11.2021 12:30  Date: November 14, 2021 Today’s Doodle celebrates the 216th birthday of virtuosic German pianist and composer Fanny Hensel, who is widely considered one of the most important woman composers of the 19th century. Fanny Hensel was born Fanny Zippora Mendelssohn on this day in 1805 in Hamburg, Germany into an upper-class family. Her mother, herself taught by a student of Johann Sebastian Bach, first taught her piano. At 13, Hensel astonished a private audience in Berlin with a memorized performance of 24 preludes from Bach’s masterpiece “The Well-Tempered Clavier” . Despite her prodigious talent, her ability to foster a musical career was hindered by restrictive societal conventions. Hensel remained musically engaged, and around 1820, she began working as an integral part of Mendelssohn family Sunday Concerts, a semi-public exhibition where she shined for decades as a hostess, organizer, conductor, and pianist free to explore the depths of her creativity. Although her public image was overshadowed by her brother Felix’s career, she devoted herself to developing the Mendelssohnian style in over 450 compositions, which reflected her veneration of Bach and Beethoven and an innovative musical approach. At age 41, she published Opus 1, the first original work published in her name and among the first published compositions by a woman, paving the way for women to pursue a classical tradition historically dominated by men. In 2010, musicologists uncovered the Easter Sonata, a masterful, solo piano piece written by Hensel when she was 22 years old that had been mistakenly attributed to her brother. The piece was performed under her name for the first time in 2017, nearly 190 years after its composition. Happy birthday, Fanny Hensel! Early drafts of the Doodle: Location: , , , , , , , , , , , Tags: , , , ,