Fanny Hensel's Sonntagsmusiken

Fanny Hensel was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1805 to Berlin banker Abraham Mendelssohn and his wife, Lea. Along with her younger brother, Felix, Fanny was considered to be musically gifted and received exceptional music education from renowned music experts, such as Ludwig Berger and Carl Friedrich Zelter (Fanny, 2010). As a piano composer, Fanny began orchestrating pieces and performing at a young age; however, her ability to continue her education and make her works public became restricted during her mid-teens. At this time, her father and brother pushed her to conform to the societal expectations of women as housewives rather than musicians. Franny still participated in "Sonntagsmusiken" with her brother, which were private concerts performed out of the Mendelssohn home (Fanny, 2010). Many of the works she played and composed at these salon concerts were published under Felix's name, due to popular belief that women could not-and should not-pursue any sort of ornate education outside of their domestic lives (Fanny, 2010). Fanny married painter William Hensel in 1829, and in 1847, she passed away from a stroke. Before her passing, she was able to see select works of hers published, serving as a huge advancement for women in music. …show more content…
In the brief 3-minute excerpt, Fanny uses musical dynamics such as decrescendo and crescendo to create contrasting sounds. Intermittent snips of short staccato notes are intertwined in the piece, which I think keeps the audience hooked by changing how the rhythm is carried. The overall upbeat tone reflects the joys of spring and creates vibrant imagery of new beginnings as flowers and vegetation start to slowly take hold during this time of