The Mendelssohns: Three Generations of Genius

Moses Mendelssohn went from the small German town of Dessau to Berlin. There he became a central figure in the history of German Jewry, the one who brought generations of Jews into a fuller place in German culture and society. This very entertaining historical account of the Mendelssohn family gives its largest amount of space to the short but event- filled life of composer Felix, the grandson of moses. It tells the story of his meteoric rise in the world of Music, the special relationship he had with his sister and fellow- composer Fanny, the story of his great musical triumphs in England , his relationship to the musical world of Bach, and of Leipzig, his central role in musical education in Leipzig, his marriage and role as father of five children, his death at the age of thirty- eight. It also tells the story of the Mendelssohn family as a whole including Moses's son , Felix's father Abraham who was responsible for converting the family to Christianity. There are also stories of many minor relatives. To Kuperferberg the focus is on the achievements, of Moses and most especially of Felix. He does not chose to emphasize the sadness and irony of the great Moses, prince of Jewry's family having abandoned the faith he lived his life for. And so does not put the story in the context of what would be the Nazi destruction of German Jewry. One symbol of that would be the destruction of the tributary statue of Felix in Leipzig erected one - hundred years before.