This brother and sister lived in a beautiful home. Their father was a
rich banker. He liked to buy things that he thought would please his
children. Their mother was a gentle woman, who enjoyed music and could
play the piano well. She could speak many languages.
Felix had a dear old grandfather. The child used to climb on his
grandfather's knee and beg for a story. The one he liked best told how
he got the name _Mendelssohn_. "Long, long ago," the grandfather would
say, "I lived in a small town in Germany. My father was a schoolmaster,
whose name was Mendel. Every one in the village knew Mendel, the
school-teacher. I used to go about a great deal with my father. When
people saw us coming, they would say, 'Here is Mendel and here is
Mendel's _sohn_, too.' So as I grew up, I was not called Moses Mendel,
but Moses Mendelssohn."
The child Felix understood then that his last name meant, "the son of
Mendel." His first name means "happy," and he was well named. There
never lived a brighter, sunnier-tempered little lad.
Felix's mother was his first teacher. She began to give her children
music lessons when Felix was only three years of age and Fanny was
seven. At first the lesson lasted for five minutes; but as time went on,
the lessons were made longer.
Soon they had other studies. They rose every morning at five o'clock and
began their work. Besides their music and drawing, they had all the
studies that you have and foreign languages besides. Do you not think
they were busy little people? When Felix was eleven years old, he could
speak French, German, and English.
Though he studied hard, he was a jolly boy. After being hard at work
writing his music, he would run into the garden, clearing high hedges
with a leap. He could climb a tree as nimbly as a squirrel. Felix and
his little friends played all sorts of games in the big garden.
Of all his playmates Felix had none so dear to him as his sister Fanny.
The two children were always together, and told each other all their
secrets. Felix thought there was no one so kind and patient as Fanny.
Fanny thought Felix was the dearest little brother in the world. She
often helped her brother with his music.
A composer is one who writes music. Felix became a composer while he was
still a small child. When he was eleven, he had composed sixty pieces of
music. He had a teacher who helped him with his compositions. This man's
name was Zelter. He was very proud of Felix, for he had no other pupil
who made such progress.
All of the Mendelssohn children liked music. They had a concert every
fortnight at home. At these concerts, Fanny played the piano, Paul the
violin, and a younger sister sang. Some of their friends often helped by
playing other instruments. When several instruments are played together,
there must be a leader to beat the time. This task fell to Felix, and he
liked it, too.
Let us imagine that we are at one of the concerts. See, Felix is so much
smaller than the others that he mounts a stool, so that the players can
see him more plainly. Now they are ready to begin. See how the eyes of
the little leader shine! He tosses back the waving black hair from his
shoulders. When he raises his arm, the playing begins. How beautiful it
is! Can it be that the little Felix has composed this music? Yes, for
when the music has stopped and the clapping has died away, his mother
says, "Never before, my son, have you written such beautiful music."
The father, too, was pleased with these concerts. He often invited his
friends to come in and listen. Mr. Zelter was always there, and
encouraged the children to play what Felix had composed.
Although Felix was born in Hamburg, he spent most of his life in Berlin.
In 1825 his father bought a beautiful home in that city. There was a
garden of seven acres. Fine old trees shaded the lawn. The house had
many beautiful rooms. The one Felix liked the best was his mother's
sitting room, which had three arches opening into another. The hall thus
formed would seat many people. What a fine place for the family
concerts!
Felix was a wonderful performer on the piano. When he was eight years
old, he played better than many people who had studied for years. If his
hands had not been so small, he could have done even better. When the
lad was nine, he played at a concert given in a large hall.
In his thirteenth and fourteenth years, Felix was very busy with his
studies. He liked to play without his notes. He memorized selections
from the works of the greatest musicians. He was especially fond of
Bach's and Beethoven's music.
In many of their studies Fanny did as well as Felix. How they enjoyed
working together! They loved each other more and more as the years went
on. Felix cared for no other praise so much as Fanny's.