Fanny Mendelssohn (Fanny Hensel) — Investigation

Status: Documented. Six songs published under Felix’s name; Easter Sonata misattributed to Felix for ~40 years. Pattern: brother’s career prioritized; sister’s work suppressed or appropriated.

Overview

Fanny Mendelssohn (1805–1847), later Fanny Hensel. Virtuosic pianist; composed ~500 works. Published few due to family/social constraints. Family believed it improper for a high-status woman to pursue professional composition.

Documented Credit Theft

1. Six Songs Under Felix’s Name

Opus 8 and 9: Six of Fanny’s songs published under Felix Mendelssohn’s name.
Published with her consent—family pressure, not theft per se. But public record attributes them to Felix.
Felix presented one of Fanny’s songs to Queen Victoria as his own; “red faces” when she said it was her favorite.

2. Easter Sonata — 40-Year Misattribution

Composed: 1828, by Fanny.
Lost: ~150 years.
Found: 1970, manuscript in France.
First recording: 1972—attributed to Felix Mendelssohn.
Correction: 2010—musicologist Angela Mace Christian verified via handwriting analysis: Fanny’s work, not Felix’s.
Premiered under her name: September 7, 2012, Duke University; UK premiere March 8, 2017 (BBC Radio 3, International Women’s Day).

Content

Four movements; depicts Passion of Christ.
Second movement: “ecclesiastical fugue.”
Finale: fantasy on chorale “Christe, du Lamm Gottes”; expresses Christ’s death.

Pattern

Brother’s career prioritized; sister’s work suppressed or published under his name.
Parallel: Nannerl Mozart (brother credited; her sonatas lost/destroyed).
Female erasure in classical canon.

Cross-Reference

mozart-nannerl.md — Same brother/sister pattern; Leopold’s hand on Wolfgang’s early works

Sources

Keywords: #Fanny #Mendelssohn #Hensel