Fanny (1805-1847) was Felix Mendelssohn's older sister, the family's firstborn child. She enjoyed the same musical education and upbringing as her brother, including studying with such teachers as Ignaz Moscheles. Like Felix, Fanny showed prodigious musical ability as a child, both as a pianist and as a budding composer. However, the prevailing attitudes of the time toward women limited her opportunities. Her father warned her that while Felix could become a professional musician if he chose, she could not do so herself. Except for Felix, her entire family opposed her dreams of a career as a concert pianist or even as a composer. Ironically, Felix, as well as many others, considered her an even better pianist than he. In 1829, after a courtship of several years, Fanny married the painter Wilhelm Hensel, who, unlike her parents, encouraged her to compose. A few of her songs and small piano pieces began to receive public performances.
"Her String Quartet in E flat Major dates from 1834. Like most of her other works, it was not published during her lifetime. To say that it sounds like a work by her brother is an understatement. If you did not know whose work you were listening to, you would guess Felix. This is not surprising given that the two were almost unnaturally close; in addition to which, she asked Felix for his advice, and he gave her an extensive critique with suggestions, most of which she incorporated into the quartet. It begins with a sad Adagio ma non troppo, which recalls her brother’s Op.13 quartet with which she would certainly have been familiar. Next comes a Scherzo dominated by its rhythms. The third movement, Romanze, is sad and resigned. The finale, Allegro molto vivace, has a lot of rushing forward movement and rushing about. Not at all a bad work, in many ways superior to some of those of her brother, which often sound like they were written at the piano with the left hand parts being given to the lower voices. Not so Fanny. Certainly worth a concert performance if for no other reason than it is by Felix Mendelssohn’s sister. However, the work can stand on its own merits. Ignaz Moscheles, the virtuoso pianist who taught both Mendelssohns, thought Fanny the better player. Who knows if she had been allowed, or if we had more of her works published, we might find that she was just as good as Felix, if not better."
—The Chamber Music Journal
Our edition was carefully edited from the manuscript in the German State Library in Berlin by Professors George Warnecke and Vinzeno Oddo.
