January 22 Program: 16 candles
Comments by Music Director John Thomas Dodson
Felix Mendelssohn was called the Mozart of the Romantic Era, because he was a child prodigy, gifted on the violin, piano, and as a composer, not to mention the visual arts, and in languages. Indeed there wasn’t anything Mendelssohn put his mind to that didn’t bend to his will. In his teens Mendelssohn wrote 13 symphonies for strings, and at the ripe old age of 16 he wrote his first masterpiece, the Octet for Strings. Composed for two string quartets, the Octet is a virtuosic piece of music. It is also a harbinger of everything that will be created by its young composer.
Since Mendelssohn turns 200 this year, we thought it would be nice to celebrate his birthday with 16 Candles, a tribute to a young genius!