Larry Todd and t'other Mendelssohn

Started by Hector, Friday 13 November 2020, 15:37

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Hector

Have folk seen this website? I did a search to check and couldn't find it on here. It contains news of an interesting Larry Todd book on Fanny Mendelssohn and some recordings of her music.

https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780195180800/audio/

eschiss1

By the other Mendelssohn I thought you might mean Arnold, or Ludwig, or ...

Hector

It is true that Larry Todd is not short of Mendelssohns to write about.

eschiss1

True. And besides her considerable talent, a book about Fanny Mendelssohn offers opportunities for context. If I understand correctly, one of her grandchildren was Kurt Hensel, a name that will only mean something to mathematicians and ex-mathematicians (and would-be mathematicians) (like me) - he discovered/invented/whatever what are called "p-adic numbers" (p prime), among other things; not one of the very biggest names in mathematics but definitely a -name- (ie one that is known and whose discoveries/whatever are even more known- briefly, someone who, like quite a few people in his family tree, made a serious contribution to their fields (not just the musicians but I'm looking at you, Moses Mendelssohn :) )

Hector

Hensel - a name I recall despite having no interest in mathematics but lived at University with a household full of mathematicians.

The recordings of Fanny's music on this Web page is rather good. Especially the quartet which I hadn't heard before. I may have to look for a recording to purchase.