Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel
(1805-1847)

Overture in C Major

Composed between 1830 and 1832

Fanny Hensel, née Mendelssohn, was born in a time when it was exceedingly difficult for women to pursue careers in music, regardless of their talent. The oldest of four children, she was born into an influential German Jewish family. Despite her exceptional musical ability as a pianist and her brother Felix’s claims that she was the better pianist, the Mendelssohn Bartholdy family often disapproved of her public performances. In 1820, her father wrote to her that “music will perhaps become a profession for your brother Felix, but for you it can and must be only an ornament.” She was also discouraged from publishing her own works, of which numbered more than four hundred. For better or worse, Felix published some of her works under his name; during a visit with Queen Victoria, he had to confess that the queen’s favorite song of his, “Italien,” had actually been written by his sister Fanny.

Much of Hensel’s music is written for solo voice with keyboard and orchestra, including several concert arias and oratorios, but the Overture in C Major is her only purely orchestral work. Like many concert overtures of the Romantic period, it is music without a narrative or connection to a theatrical work – it is strictly “absolute” music. It begins with a lyrical andante call and response between winds and strings which grows in intensity towards the con fuoco main body of the work. Among the most striking features of the overture are its joyfully infectious melodies and sudden harmonic shifts.

We are able to hear the overture today, almost two hundred years after it was written, thanks to a resurrection of the unpublished work by the Women’s Philharmonic of San Francisco led by JoAnn Falletta in 1992. Given all the challenges Hensel faced as a composer, it is particularly inspiring to hear the exuberant and relentless joy in her music. 

Instrumentation – two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, timpani, percussion, and strings

Duration – 9 minutes