Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 8.djvu/189

MENDELSSOHN 327 were neither of them trained musicians, though both appreciated and loved music, and it was from his mother that young Felix received his first music- lessons. When he had made some advance, Ludwig Berger became his tutor for the piano, and Zelter, a very learned and severe theorist, for counterpoint. At the age of nine years Felix had attained such proficiency that we find him taking the pianoforte part in a trio at a public concert of a Herr Gugel's, and when twelve years old he began to compose, and actual- ly wrote a trio, some sonatas, a cantata, and several organ pieces. His home life was in the highest degree favorable to his musi- cal development. On alternate Sundays musical performances were regularly given with a small orchestra in the large dining- room, Felix or his sister Fanny, who also possessed remarkable musical gifts, taking the pianoforte part, and new compositions by Felix were always included in the pro- gramme. Many friends, musicians and others, used to be present, Zelter regularly among their number, and the pieces were always freely commented on, Felix receiving then, as indeed he did all his life, the criticisms expressed, with the utmost good-natured readiness. In 1824 Moscheles, at that time a celebrated pianist, and residing in London, visited Berlin, and was asked to give Felix music-lessons. This is the testimony of Moscheles, an excellent and kind-hearted man, and a thoroughly skilled mu- sician, after spending nearly every day for six weeks with the family : " It is a family such as I have never known before ; Felix, a mature artist, and yet but fifteen ; Fanny, extraordinarily gifted, playing Bach's fugues by heart and with astonishing correctness — in fact, a thorough musician. The parents give me the impression of people of the highest cultivation ; " and on the subject of lessons he says : " Felix has no need of lessons ; if he wishes to take a hint from me as to anything new, he can easily do so." But it is very pleasant to find Mendels- sohn afterward referring to these lessons as having urged him on to enthusiasm, and, in the days in London when his own fame had far outstripped that of the older musician, acknowledging himself as " Moscheles's pupil." The elder Men- delssohn was by no means carried away by the applause which the boy's playing and compositions had gained, and in 1825 he took his son to Paris to obtain Cherubini's opinion as to his musical abilities, with a view to the choice of a pro- fession ; for he had by no means made up his mind that Felix should spend his whole life as a musician. However, the surly old Florentine, who was not al- ways civil or appreciative of budding genius {teste Berlioz), gave a decidedly fa- vorable judgment on the compositions submitted to him, and urged the father to