Fanny Hensel’s songs as a mirror of her life
Caught between artistic aspirations and social pressures
Fanny Hensel was a talented composer who challenged the social conventions of her time. Although she has since secured a place in music history, she was always – not least as a woman – in the shadow of her more famous brother, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy.
1842, oil on canvas
Fanny Hensel
Gartenlieder (Garden Songs)
6 songs for mixed choir, op. 3, 1846
Carus 9.308/00
Early years and musical influences
Fanny Hensel (née Mendelssohn) was born in Hamburg on 14 November 1805, eldest daughter of the banker Abraham Mendelssohn and his wife Lea (née Salomon). In 1811, the occupation of the city by French forces led the family to move to Berlin, where the musical talent of Fanny and her brother Felix became apparent at an early age. It was particularly their mother, who, familiar with the living legacy of Bach’s music in Berlin, encouraged the children’s musical education. At the age of 13, Fanny Mendelssohn was already playing challenging pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach.
From 1819, Fanny and Felix were instructed in composition by Carl Friedrich Zelter, a leading teacher of the time. Recognizing Fanny’s talent, Zelter described her as a technically accomplished and expressive performer. This period marked the beginning of a rich and extensive outpouring of song. Fanny, however, was admonished by her father, and later by her brothers, to concentrate on her twin roles as housewife and mother. For Hensel, these expectations were a cause of inner conflict and periods of disillusionment.
Musical salon and social pressures
In an attempt to subvert these social constrictions, Fanny Hensel dedicated herself to establishing her own musical salon in Berlin. This quickly developed into a cultural hub, attracting artists, musicians, and intellectuals alike. As early as 1821, the first Sonntagsmusiken – semi-public musicales featuring professional musicians – were held at the Mendelssohn family home. This series became an important institution in Berlin’s musical life, attracting numerous celebrities of the time. Hensel now had a venue to perform many of her own works. The salons were a safe environment in which she could express herself and grow musically. A particular focus was on vocal compositions, which were integral to the program. Hensel’s own pieces, such as the Gartenlieder (Carus 9.308/00), were probably also performed there.
Travel and sources of inspiration
One significant theme in Fanny Hensel’s music is the sense of yearning, reflected in many of her songs. Such yearning was not only a highly personal expression, but also shaped – in keeping with the spirit of the age – by literary sources and an imaginative view of distant lands. One example is the song Sehnsucht nach Italien (Carus 9.530/00 [1822], arr. D. Rouger), which begins with Goethe’s famous poem: “Kennst du das Land, wo die Zitronen blühn?” (“Do you know the land where the lemons bloom?”). In this work, Hensel depicts a passionate yearning for Italy as an idealized place of inspiration and freedom. She also set other Goethe texts to music, such as Mignons Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt (Carus 9.528/00 [1826], arr. D. Rouger), which deals with inner turmoil and the longing for a distant lover. Another remarkable work is the setting of Goethe’s Neue Liebe, neues Leben (Carus 9.259/00, arr. D. Rouger), which combines exhilarating passion with moments of inner turmoil and the lover’s sighs of longing.
Fanny fell in love with Wilhelm Hensel (1794-1861), whom she met in 1822; the couple became engaged in 1829. The painter had only recently returned from a five-year stay in Italy, which gives yet another meaning to the longing for Italy. Their engagement took place during a particularly inspiring phase of Fanny’s life, crowned by the revival of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion under the direction of her brother Felix Mendelssohn.
In the summer of 1829, Wilhelm Hensel wrote the poem Nachtreigen, which Fanny Hensel initially described as “uncomposable”. Nevertheless, she created an impressive choral setting (Nachtreigen, Carus 40.219) as a birthday surprise for her husband. In this a cappella composition, Fanny demonstrates her masterful command of complex harmonies and beautiful eight-voice part-singing. She returned again and again to the theme of night, as in the choral movement Nacht ruht auf den fremden Wegen (Carus 3.402/00, H 225, 1846). Her love of Italian culture finally culminated in 1839 in an almost year-long trip through Italy, which turned out to be one of the most fulfilling periods of her life. The trip also left its mark on Fanny Hensel’s work, as in the composition Nach Süden (Carus 9.528/00, arr. D. Rouger). Ostensibly about the migration of birds, this song combines a longing for southern climes with a poetic view of nature.
Carus 9.259/00
Later years and recognition
In the 1830s and 1840s, Fanny Hensel composed a large number of songs, including works such as Zauberkreis (Carus 9.532/00 [1843/44], arr. D. Rouger) and Traum (Carus 9.531/00 [1844], arr. D. Rouger). The compositions bear witness to her musical maturity and stylistic diversity. However, these years were not only a time of artistic creativity, but also personal difficulties: Despite her success as a composer, Fanny Hensel was constantly struggling against the restrictions imposed by her family and by society at large. While her brother Felix became a prominent figure in the world of music, Fanny’s activities were largely confined to composing and giving private performances.
Tragedy struck on 14 May 1847 during rehearsals for one of her popular Sunday musicales when Fanny Hensel unexpectedly suffered a stroke, dying only a few hours later. One particularly moving testimony to her artistic legacy is the posthumously published song Bergeslust (Carus 9.533/00, arr. D. Rouger), which includes the lines: „Die Wolken ziehn hernieder, das Vöglein senkt sich gleich, Gedanken gehen und Lieder bis in das Himmelreich“ (“The clouds drift down, the little bird descends, thoughts and songs go flying up to the kingdom of heaven.”) – the lyrics are even engraved on her gravestone.
It was only in the last years of her short life that Hensel began to publish some of her compositions. Now viewed as a major contribution to the art of Romantic song, her Lieder are enjoying greater prominence both in concert and in scholarly research. Not just an expression of emotional depth and artistic accomplishment, these songs also reflect her private struggle to maintain personal freedom under the constraints imposed by society.
Fanny Hensel’s dedication to music inspires us to engage with her work and discover the beauty of her compositions. Ideal for this purpose are the choral arrangements by Denis Rouger, who has carefully adapted Fanny Hensel’s original songs to the expressive potentials of a larger ensemble. The arrangements have been recorded by the figure humaine chamber choir under the direction of Denis Rouger (available on CD and all major streaming portals) and are published by Carus as separate editions.
Lorenz Adamer studied musicology and philosophy at the universities of Vienna (Austria), Cremona/Pavia (Italy) and Tübingen. He has been working at Carus-Verlag since summer 2017, initially as a sales assistant and now in the editorial department. In his spare time he is a keen clarinettist, and sings in a choir.
Choral Music Composed by Women
Women composers have always made significant contributions to the choral repertoire. Numerous hidden gems for mixed choir are ready and waiting to be performed in concerts and church services. This choral collection spotlights female composers from Europe, North and South America and Israel, ranging from the Renaissance period to young composers of the present day. Many were pioneers of their time, who fought against strong opposition for acceptance as professional composers.
Hensel: Nachtreigen
Fanny Hensel’s impressive Nachtreigen is more than 200 measures long, with a women’s choir (SSAA) and a male choir (TTBB) which initially approach each other in a dialogue and are later artfully united with varying text. The second part unfolds into a fugato which brings the voices together for a powerful homophonic conclusion.
Hensel: Wer will mir wehren zu singen
Fanny Hensel’s song Wer will mir wehren zu singen (H 447) is a lively setting of a Goethe poem for soprano, alto and one male voice in E flat major. The dance-like 6/8 metre and the flowing melody emphasise the optimistic message of the text about the freedom of artistic expression.
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