Amongst the several pieces by Felix Mendelssohn which are mentioned in letters but are lost/unknown, are the Kindersinfonien/Kindersymphonien (Children’s Symphonies). It seems that two were composed for family Christmas celebrations (1827, 1828), with possibly a third for his parents’ wedding anniversary (1829).
The first one was written for Mendelssohn’s younger sister Rebecka for the Christmas celebrations in 1827. Felix’s other sister Fanny describes it in her letter to Carl Klingemann (25 December 1827):
“The Christmas lights are out, the beautiful presents have been put away and we are spending the first festive day quietly at home. Mother is sleeping in one corner of the sofa, Paul in the other, Rebecka is reading the fashion magazine with great devotion and I am again proceeding with my letter. On days like yesterday we miss you more than usual […]. By the way, it was very merry and beautiful yesterday. Using the instruments of the Haydn one, Felix had written a Children’s-Symphony for Rebecka, which we performed and which was extraordinarily amusing. For me he wrote a piece of another kind: a four-part choral piece with a small orchestra, using the chorale “Christe, du Lamm Gottes”. I have played it today a couple of times, it is quite wonderful.” [2] [3]
Fanny mentions that the instrumentation is like that of Haydn’s symphony; she is likely referring to the Kindersinfonie which at various times has been attributed to Edmund Angerer, Joseph Haydn, Michael Haydn, Leopold Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Rainprechter. The instrumentation of this symphony includes toy instruments like the Cuckoo. [4]
The second Kindersinfonie is also mentioned in a letter from Fanny to Carl (27 December 1828):
“These and still many more young people were here for Christmas Eve. That same day Felix composed a dearest Children’s Symphony, that was played to everyone’s enjoyment twice, the big Baumkuchen [cake] was given to Dirichlet (he has a passionate liking for it) […].” [5] [6]
Another mention of what probably was a performance of the same piece the following year occurs in Mendelssohn’s mother Lea Mendelssohn’s letter to Carl Klingemann (30th December 1829) describing the ‘hen’s night’ celebration held on the 25th December, Christmas Day and the eve of the her and Abraham’s silver wedding anniversary:
“After everyone had embraced and congratulated each other, the children performed an Allegro from Felix's Children's Symphony from the previous Christmas celebration as an overture to Gansen's piece.” [7] [8]
This brings us to the question of Mendelssohn’s third Kindersinfonie, and whether it was actually ever finished as such.
Aus: Die Welt im Kleinen : zwölf Bilder aus dem Kinderleben. Ein Familienbuch von Eduard Schulz mit Text von Emil Rittershaus., Flemming, Glogau 1867
The third Kindersinfonie is described by Felix in his letter (11 August 1829) to Fanny and to Wilhelm Hensel as something he was planning to bring to his parents’ silver anniversary:
“I also want to bring various things with me for the silver [wedding anniversary]; instrumental music, hubbub, curious things [Seltsames], and much seriousness [Ernst]; but I also really want to write occasional pieces; the Children’s Symphony alone will not be enough although I have already collected excellent material for it, and already know by heart the bagpipe, Rule Britannia, the national melodies amongst others, which will all be in it. [9] [10]
Thomas Schmidt writes that this symphony was “apparently replaced by the ‘Liederspiel’ Aus der Fremde MWV L 6.” (‘The Homecoming from Abroad’ Op 89, MWV L 6), which was performed at the anniversary. [10]
What could be a sign that the Children Symphonies were in some way memorable to Mendelssohn himself is the fact that he refers to them in other contexts.
Letter to Fanny from 25th May 1830:
“Do collect votes on the title which I should choose: Reformation-Symphony, Confession-Symphony, Symphony of the Church-Fest (for the pope), Children’s Symphony, or as you like: write to me about it, and instead of all the dumb suggestions, send an intelligent one; but I want to know the dumb ones too, that will arise on this occasion” [12] [13] [10]
In the introduction to the 2009 edition of Mendelssohn’s works, Thomas Schmidt observes that Felix’s question was not posed seriously, firstly because of the reference to the pope in the context of a Lutheran-themed piece, and secondly because of the reference to the ‘Children’s Symphony which, he says referred to the “playful pieces Mendelssohn wrote for Christmas 1827 and 1828 as well as for his parents’ silver wedding anniversary on 26 December 1829 […]” [10]
In the following letter it is not possible to know which particular Children’s Symphony, Mendelssohn referred to. Who knows, just perhaps it is yet another children’s symphony that we do not know of…
Julius Eduard Wilhelm Helfft (1818-1894) - The Music Room of Fanny Hensel (nee Mendelssohn) in their family home on Leipziger Str. 3, Berlin, at which the first Children's Symphony was performed in 1827.
20 December 1831 to Rebecka
“In addition, this evening is Christmas Eve; to which I will be indifferent, and to New Year's Eve to. But God willing, next year it should look different, and I will not go to the opera again on Christmas Eve, like today to hear Lablache and Rubini for the first time. Oh God I do not care much about it! I would prefer nutcrackers and apples today, and whether the orchestra will play a symphony as beautiful as my Children's Symphony is a question. You have to be content today.” [11] [13]
Over the years in some publications there have been a few conflicting footnotes regarding the composition years and the number of Children’s Symphonies. For example: In Sebastian Hensel’s 1879 publication a footnote to Fanny’s 1828 letter about what seems to be the second children’s symphony states: “Felix has therefore composed two children’s symphonies. Only one has survived, I have not been able to find any trace of the second.” [5] While the location of the autographs of these symphonies are now considered unknown this footnote may mean that the location of the autograph of one of them, was known to Hensel. Also, it may mean that he either did not know about the existence of the third symphony, of that it may have indeed been completely substituted by Aus der Fremde.
A footnote to the 1861 publication of Felix’s 1831 (20th December) letter to Rebecka says that “The one that Mendelssohn composed for the family Christmas celebration in the year 1829, is called the Children’s Symphony.” [11] This could mean any number of things: it could be an error in the year, it could mean that the author of the footnote could have also attributed the anniversary performances to being a Christmas celebration performance, or perhaps there is also a minimal chance of there was indeed another symphony composed for that Christmas.
In 2009 as part of the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig Mendelssohn Edition Breitkopf & Härtel has published the first complete catalogue of Mendelssohn’s works, developed by Ralph Wehner. In this list, the three Kindersinfonien are given the numbers MWV P 4, MWV P 6 and MWV P 8 for those composed in 1827, 1828 and 1829 respectively. [14] [10]
After reading the materials above my impression is that these Kindersinfonien were composed with the purpose of bringing the siblings/family together, perhaps as a Christmas tradition. Perhaps it is for this reason that they were not published. It is known that Mendelssohn preferred to separate music composed for private contexts and for the public. For example, it is known that this was the reason Mendelssohn refused commercial performances of The Homecoming from Abroad Op 89, MWV L 6, which was written for the same anniversary and is thought to have maybe replaced the third Kindersinfonie (‘From Abroad’ did end up being publicly performed after his death) [1] [10].
Therefore, perhaps it is fair that the Kindersinfonien are not performed and potentially lost. However, so many years later, their story sounds interesting and sweet, and it would be interesting to determine how many of them he actually did write.
Sources: [1] The Cambridge Companion to Mendelssohn. ed. Peter Mercer-Taylor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004, page 211.
[2] Sebastian Hensel: Die Familie Mendelssohn 1729 bis 1847. Band 1. de Gruyter, 2019, page 172.
[3] Sebastian Hensel, translated by Carl Klingemann. The Mendelssohn Family (1729-1847): Volume 1. From Letters and Journals, Cambridge University Press: 2013, page 151.
[4] https://imslp.org/wiki/Kindersinfonie_(Angerer%2C_Edmund)
[5] Sebastian Hensel, Paul Hensel: Die Familie Mendelssohn 1729-1847 nach Briefen und Tagebüchern. Volume 1. 1879. Page 199.
[6] Sebastian Hensel, translated by Carl Klingemann. The Mendelssohn Family (1729-1847): Volume 1. From Letters and Journals, Cambridge University Press: 2013, page 165.
[7] Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdys Briefwechsel mit Legationsrat Karl Klingemann in London. Essen: G. D. Baedeker, 1909, page 70.
[8] Leipziger Ausgabe der Werke Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdys Volume 13, Issue 1, Part 1, Deutscher Verlag für Musik, 2009, page 243.
[9] Sämtliche Briefe: 1816 bis Juni 1830. F. Mendelssohn. ed. A. Morgenstern et al. Bärenreiter, 2008, page 373
[10] Leipziger Ausgabe der Werke von Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Symphony in D minor (“Reformation”) MWV N 15 Introduction by Thomas Schmidt. Breitkopf & Haertel, 2017. XXVII
[11] Reisebriefe von Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy aus den Jahren 1830 bis 1832. Herausgaben von Paul Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Leipzig: Verlag von Hermann Mendelssohn, 1861.
[12] Briefe aus den Jahren 1830 bis 1847, Volumes 1-2, H. Mendelssohn, 1870, page 5
[13] Letters of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy from Italy and Switzerland. Translated by Lady Grace Wallace. E-book, 2019.
[14] https://www.saw-leipzig.de/de/aktuelles/mwv; https://www.saw-leipzig.de/de/projekte/leipziger-ausgabe-der-werke-von-felix-mendelssohn-bartholdy/thematisch-systematisches-werkverzeichnis?fbclid=IwAR1C7bmKfBXEfId27KuIazPYxy8Q5p1lgH-cYA3lp57ftbrFIoRsI-83fu4