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Introduction: Felix Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg, Germany on 3rd February, 1809 into a distinguished and afflluent family of bankers, intellectuals and artists. A child prodigy, he produced his first composition in 1820; a constant stream of work continued throughout his relatively short life - he died in Leipzig on 4th November, 1847 at the age of just 38. These notes, which accompany Pristine Audio's Mendelssohn Edition, released to mark the 160th anniversary of his oratio Elijah, our first award-winning release for Divine Art, follow Mendelssohn's life through eight compositions newly remastered for August 2006.
I
wish I could only describe how happy I am to be here once more; how much
I like everything, and how gratified I am by the findness of old friends... - Mendelssohn on London, 1832 It is unclear when Mendelssohn's Capriccio Brillant for piano and orchestra was actually composed. Some authorities date it to 1825/6, when the composer was 17/18, whereas other evidence points to it being written (finished, perhaps?) in London in 1832, by which time he 23. Certainly it was on this visit that the work has its premiere. As a short, single-movement concert piece it is surprisingly little heard - though not really amongst his finest compositions, nevertheless there is much to admire here, and the work gives the soloist plenty of opportunity to be "brilliant"! Mendelssohn was himself an excellent pianist and this music would have given him an ideal vehicle with which to display his talents.
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