Leipsic.
Mendelssohn was the conductor, and it was given in the Sing-Akademie.
This was the work of a boy of twenty. Nothing could speak more plainly
of the authority which his genius gave him than that he should conceive
and bring to completion an undertaking of this magnitude in a city like
Berlin at so early an age. He made many journeys for pleasure and
instruction. Full accounts of these will be found in his charming
letters, which are among the most delightful contributions of this kind
that any literary man or artist has left. During one of these journeys
he visited the Hebrides, and afterward produced his overture called
"Fingal's Cave," as a memory of that visit.

Mendelssohn attained great celebrity as a pianist and organist, the
latter mainly by his improvisations, although he has the credit of
having been one of the first to play Bach's fugues in England. The
late August Haupt, however, told one of his pupils that Mendelssohn, in
his time, never had an adequate pedal technic but played upon a sort of
hit-or-miss principle, which generally succeeded from his thorough
grasp of the music. He early produced his concerto for pianoforte in G
minor, and played it at many musical festivals. He was in great demand
as a director for festivals in Germany and also in England. He became
director of the Gewandhaus concerts at Leipsic in 1835, and in 1843,
with very distinguished artist associates, he founded the Conservatory
of Music at Leipsic, which, under his management, became so celebrated.
Mendelssohn produced works in almost every department of musical
composition, a great variety of chamber music, symphonies, overtures,
one opera, and a very large collection of music for the piano-forte and
organ. Probably his fame will last longer through the influence of
three works--viz., the "Midsummer Night's Dream" overture, which opened
the new world of the romantic; the oratorio of "Elijah," which is in
very many respects one of the most beautiful ever written, just as it
is also fortunate in the selection of subjects and of the episodes for
treatment; and the "Songs Without Words" for the pianoforte, which,
while not of remarkable depth, are very beautiful and poetic
compositions of such quality as to awaken in the musical world a new
appetite and a new appreciation of an instrument which has now become
the most universal in use.

All the works of Mendelssohn are distinguished for clearness of form,
elegance o