Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847): Octet in E flat
major, Op. 20 (1825)
Max Bruch (1838-1920): Octet in B flat major, Op. posth. (1920)
Born in Hamburg in 1809, eldest son of the banker Abraham
Mendelssohn and grandson of the great Jewish thinker Moses Mendelssohn, Felix
Mendelssohn, who took the additional name Bartholdy on his baptism as a Christian,
was brought up in Berlin, where his family settled in 1812. Here he enjoyed the
wide cultural opportunities that his family offered, through their own interests
and connections.
Manifested in a number of directions, Mendelssohn's early
gifts, included marked musical precocity, both as a composer and as a
performer, at a remarkably early age. These exceptional abilities received
every encouragement from his family and their friends, although Abraham Mendelssohn
entertained early doubts about the desirability of his son taking the
profession of musician. These