Ignaz Moscheles and Felix Mendelssohn

I stumbled across Ignaz Moscheles (1794 - 1870) during my second year at university, while I was researching the more well-known Felix Mendelssohn. While a rather obscure composer today, Moscheles was well regarded during his lifetime, known predominantly as a piano virtuosi. Other, more famous, virtuosi of the nineteenth century include Liszt and Paginini.

Moscheles had a multi-faceted career; he was a performer, composer and teacher. As a pianist, he composed prominently for piano and would perform his own compositions, e.g. the piano concertos in Gm and E. In addition to concertos, he wrote in various genres for piano that are not so familiar. He composed a lot of fantasias, impromptus and theme and variations. Fantasias were based on pre-existing themes and Moscheles sometimes used popular tunes. He wrote fantasies on the most popular opera stars of the day: Giuditta Pasta, Maria Malibran and Henriette Sonntag. He also composed a fantasie on an operatic aria from Donizietti's 'Anna Bolena' (1830).

So what is the link between Moscheles and Felix Mendelssohn? They appear to have been family friends. They both came from middle-class Jewish families. For several years, Moscheles lived and worked in London, and would often host Mendelssohn when he visited the city. They also performed together on occassion, there are examples of them piano a two-piano concerto at a concert by the Philharmonic Society.

One of the other reasons that Mendelssohn - and Moscheles - are particularly interesting is their family background. Both were brought up as Christians but came from a Jewish family. In the case of Mendelssohn, his religion has been scrutinized over the years. However, reviews of contemporary concerts in London suggest that - in England at least - audiences were not bothered at all about Mendelssohn's religion nor his cultural identity. Moscheles has never been subject to the same amount of scrutiny, but this is most likely because he has fallen into obscurity since his death.