The Mendelssohn Scholarship (german: Mendelssohn-Stipendium) refers to two scholarships awarded in Germany and in the United Kingdom. Both commemorate the composer Felix Mendelssohn, and are awarded to promising young musicians to enable them to continue their development.

History

Shortly after

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...

's death in 1847, a group of his friends and admirers formed a committee in London to establish a scholarship to enable musicians to study at the Leipzig Conservatoire, which Mendelssohn had founded in 1843. Their fundraising included a performance of Mendelssohn's ''

Elijah Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My God is Yahweh/ YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) was, according to the Books ...

'' in 1848, featuring

Jenny Lind Johanna Maria "Jenny" Lind (6 October 18202 November 1887) was a Swedish opera singer, often called the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she performed in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and a ...

. The link between London and

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

fell through, resulting in two Mendelssohn Scholarships.'' A Dictionary of Music and Musicians''

Sir George Grove Sir George Grove (13 August 182028 May 1900) was an English engineer and writer on music, known as the founding editor of ''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians''. Grove was trained as a civil engineer, and successful in that profession, b ...

, Vol. 2, London, 1900, New York Times, 7 November 1895

Mendelssohn Scholarship in Germany

In Germany, the Mendelssohn Scholarship was established in the 1870s as two awards of 1500 Marks, one for composition and one for performance, for any student of a music school in Germany, and was funded by the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

n state as part of an arrangement under which the Mendelssohn family donated the composer's manuscripts to the state. The first recipient was the composer, Engelbert Humperdinck, who used it to travel to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in 1879. Funded by the Jewish Mendelssohn family, the award was discontinued by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

in 1934. It was revived by the Ministry of Culture of the former

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

in 1963, in the form of two annual prizes for composition and for performance. It is now awarded by the

Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (german: Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz; SPK) is a Germany, German federal government body that oversees 27 museums and cultural organizations in and around Berlin, Germany. Its purview includes all of ...

Recipients

As well as Humperdinck, famous recipients include the pianist Wilhelm Kempff and the composer

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

. The following is an incomplete chronological list of recipients of the German Mendelssohn Scholarship.

1879 to 1934

* 1879 – Engelbert Humperdinck, Josef Kotek, Johann Kruse, Ernst SeyffardtUte Hansen, Felix-Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Preis : Geschichte, Satzung, Wettbewerbsrichtlinien, Preisträger, Stipendiaten (Berlin: Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz, 2001) * 1880 – Marie Soldat, Carl Wolf (composition) * 1881 –

Bernhard Stavenhagen Bernhard Stavenhagen (24 November 1862 – 25 December 1914) was a German pianist, composer and conductor. His musical style was influenced by Franz Liszt, and as a conductor he was a strong advocate of new music. Biography Born in Greiz, he com ...

, Andreas Moser, Johann Kruse, Ethel Smyth, Philipp Wolfrum, Adam Alex, Sophie Braun, Fritz Kaufmann (composition), Gotthold Knauth (piano), Alfred Sormann (piano) * 1882 – Marie Soldat (violin), Martin Gebhardt (organ), Elsa Harriers (voice), Marie Harzer (voice), Karl Prill (violin), Arnold Mendelssohn (composition), Carl Schneider (composition) * 1883 – Alex Adam, Albert Gorter (composition), Marie Harzer (voice), Hedwig Meyer (piano), Martha Schwieder (piano), Ernst Seyffardt (composition), Georg Stoltzenberg (composition), Elise Tannenberg (piano), Gabriele Wietrowetz (violin), Margarethe Witt (violin) * 1884 – Carl Grothe (composition), Anna Haasters (piano), Solma Krause (piano), Max Puchat (composition), Carl Schneider (composition) * 1885 �
Gabriele Wietrowetz
Ida Beckmann (violin), Marie Mette (voice), Fanny Richter (piano), Georg Stoltzenberg (composition), Margarete Will (piano) * 1886 – Charles Gregorowitsch (violin; also 1887, 1888), Hermann Kindler (cello), Geraldine Morgan (violin; also 1887), Bernhard Pfannstiel (organ; also 1887, 1888), Olga von Radecke (piano) * 1887 – Waldemar von Baußnern, Heinrich van Eyken, Peter Fassbänder, Felix Odenwald * 1888 – Fanny Richter (piano), Percy Sherwood (piano; also 1889), Eduard Behm (also 1890, 1891), Mathieu Neumann, Ewald Strasser, Lucy Campbell (cello; also 1890) * 1890 –

Bram Eldering Abraham "Bram" Eldering (8 July 1865 – 17 June 1943) was a Dutch violinist and music pedagogue. Life Born in Groningen, Bram (abbreviation of ''Abraham'') Eldering studied violin with Jenő Hubay at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. Aft ...

, Carl Markees (violin), Hermann von Roner (violin), Elisabeth Rouge (piano), August Schmidt (piano) E. van Dooren (also 1892), Martin Grabert, Friedrich Koch, Max Oppitz (clarinet), Carl Piening (cello) * 1891 – Rudolf Lentz (violin; also 1892, 1893), Mina Rode (violin; also 1894), Betty Schwabe (violin), Felice Kirchdorffer (piano) * 1892 – Helene Jordan (voice), Rosa Schindler (violin), Lina Mayer (piano) * 1893 –

Carl Thiel Carl Josef Thiel (9 July 1862 − 23 July 1939) was a German organist, church musician and professor of music. Life Born in Oleśnica Mała, Thiel was born as the son of the trained miller and grain merchant August Thiel and his second wife ...

, Leo Schrattenholz, Louis Saar, Nellie Kühler (piano), Amelia Heineberg (piano), Olga von Lerdahely (violin), Kati Macdonald (piano), Lizzie Reynolds (piano) * 1894 – Heinrich Bendler (piano), Dietrich Schäfer (piano), Toni Tholfus (piano), May C. Taylor (composition) * 1895 –

Elsie Stanley Hall Elsie Maude Stanley Hall (22 June 1877 – 27 June 1976), commonly referred to as Elsie Stanley Hall, was a prominent Australian-born South African classical pianist. Life Hall was born in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, the oldest daughter o ...

, * 1896 – Paul Juon, Walter Bachmann (piano), Juanita Brockmann (violin; also 1899, 1904) * 1889 – Percy Sherwood * 1900 – Karl Klingler * 1901 – Elly Ney * 1902 – Alfred Sittard * 1902 –

Ignatz Waghalter Ignatz Waghalter (15 March 1881 – 7 April 1949) was a Polish- German composer and conductor. Early life Waghalter was born into a poor but musically accomplished Jewish family in Warsaw. His eldest brother, Henryk Waghalter (1869-1961), bec ...

* 1904 – Eugenie Stoltz (honorable mention) * 1904 – Mae Doelling (1888–1965), piano * 1905 – Eugenie Stoltz * 1906 – Sara Gurowitsch * 1909 – Samuel Lieberson * 1910 & 1913 – Ernst Toch * 1912 – Licco Amar * 1913 –

Hans Bassermann Hans Bassermann (20 September 1888 – 12 February 1978) was a German violinist and music scholar. Life Born in Franckfurt, Bassermann was the son of the music teacher Fritz Bassermann (1850-1926), who worked at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankf ...

Mischa Levitzki Mischa Levitzki (also spelled Levitski; uk, Міша Левицький (); May 25, 1898 – January 2, 1941) was a Russian-born U.S.-based concert pianist. Levitzki was born in Kremenchuk, Ukraine (then part of the Russian Empire), to ...

Max Trapp Hermann Emil Alfred Max Trapp (November 1, 1887 – May 31, 1971) was a German composer and teacher. A prestigious figure in the Berlin cultural scene during the 1930s, Trapp, amongst others in the Nazi influenced scene, was regularly invited t ...

* 1913 & 1918 –

Erwin Schulhoff Erwin Schulhoff ( cs, Ervín Šulhov; 8 June 189418 August 1942) was an Austro-Czech composer and pianist. He was one of the figures in the generation of European musicians whose successful careers were prematurely terminated by the rise of the ...

* 1915 – * 1917 – Wilhelm Kempff, Emil Peeters * 1918 – Pancho Vladigerov * 1919 –

* 1920 – Pancho Vladigerov * 1925 –

Berthold Goldschmidt Berthold Goldschmidt (18 January 190317 October 1996) was a German Jewish composer who spent most of his life in England. The suppression of his work by Nazi Germany, as well as the disdain with which many Modernist critics elsewhere dismissed h ...

, Max Rostal * 1926 – Ignace Strasfogel,

Ernst Pepping Ernst Pepping (12 September 1901 – 1 February 1981) was a German composer of classical music and academic teacher. He is regarded as an important composer of Protestant sacred music in the 20th century. Pepping taught at the and the . His musi ...

* 1928 – Hans Humpert * 1928 – Grete von Zieritz * 1928 –

Wilhelm Stross Wilhelm Stross (5 November 1907 – 18 January 1966) was a German violinist and composer. He was professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München and the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln as well as first violin of the Stross Quarte ...

* 1929 – Herbert Marx * 1930 –

Ludwig Hölscher Ludwig may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ludwig (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Ludwig (surname), including a list of people * Ludwig Ahgren, or simply Ludwig, American YouTube live streamer and c ...

* 1931 –

Kurt Fiebig Kurt Fiebig (29 February 1908 – 12 October 1988) was a German composer, church musician and professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. Life and career Fiebig was born in Berlin as the son of a military musician. His parent ...

, Roman Totenberg,

Artur Balsam Artur Balsam (February 8, 1906 – September 1, 1994) was a Polish-born American classical pianist and pedagogue. Biography He was born in Warsaw, Poland, and studied in Łódź, making his debut there at the age of 12 then enrolled at the Berlin ...

* 1932 –

Norbert von Hannenheim Norbert Wolfgang Stephan Hann von Hannenheim (15 May 1898, Nagyszeben – 29 September 1945 in the Landeskrankenhaus Obrawalde near Międzyrzecz) was an Austro-Hungarian-born German composer. He is seen as one of the most brilliant later pupils of ...

Harald Genzmer Harald or Haraldr is the Old Norse form of the given name Harold. It may refer to: Medieval Kings of Denmark * Harald Bluetooth (935–985/986) Kings of Norway * Harald Fairhair (c. 850–c. 933) * Harald Greycloak (died 970) * Harald Hardrada ...

* 1933 –

Werner Trenkner Werner may refer to: People * Werner (name), origin of the name and people with this name as surname and given name Fictional characters * Werner (comics), a German comic book character * Werner Von Croy, a fictional character in the ''Tomb Ra ...

Bernhard Heiden Bernhard Heiden (b. Frankfurt-am-Main, August 24, 1910; d. Bloomington, IN, April 30, 2000) was a German and American composer and music teacher, who studied under and was heavily influenced by Paul Hindemith. Bernhard Heiden, the son of Erns ...

, Karlrobert Kreiten * 1935 – Fritz Werner, Johannes Schneider-Marfels

Since 1963

* 1965 –

Peter Herrmann Peter Herrmann (19 December 1941 – 28 October 2015) was a German composer and academic teacher. He composed three operas and a ballet, but mainly instrumental music both for orchestra and chamber music. His works have been performed internatio ...

* 1966 – Walter Steffens * 1974/75 – Gabriele Kupfernagel * 1976/77 –

Reinhard Wolschina Reinhard Wolschina (born 31 August 1952) is a German composer. Life Born in Leipzig, Wolschina attended the from 1967. Afterwards he studied composition with and piano with Volkmar Lehmann at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar. Fro ...

* 1978/80 – Walter Thomas Heyn * 1981 – Bernd Franke * 1985 – Rolf Fischer * 1987 – Olaf Henzold * 1988 – Steffen Schleiermacher * 1988/89 –

Caspar René Hirschfeld Caspar René Hirschfeld (born 21 May 1965) is a German composer and violinist. Life Born in Wernigerode, Hirschfeld received his first violin lessons at the music school from the age of 5. At the age of 9 he began composing. From 1982 to 1987 ...

* Carola Nasdala * Michael Schönheit * Michael Stöckigt * Matthias Henneberg

Mendelssohn Scholarship in the United Kingdom

The funds raised at the 1848 concert were invested and allowed to accumulate until 1856, when

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinafore'', '' The Pirates of Penzance ...

was elected as the first scholar. Since then it has been awarded from time to time, administered by the Mendelssohn Scholarship Foundation, which is linked to the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke ...

. The foundation was created by a trust deed in 1871. Its trustees include the composers Anthony Payne and Justin Connolly, and the principal of the Royal Academy of Music, Jonathan Freeman-Attwood; and its charitable objects are "For the education of musical students of both sexes in pursuance of the intentions of the founders".

Recipients

Recipients include the composers Frederick Corder, George Dyson,

Malcolm Arnold Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold (21 October 1921 – 23 September 2006) was an England, English composer. His works feature music in many genres, including a cycle of nine symphonies, numerous concertos, concert works, chamber music, choral music a ...

and Kenneth Leighton. The following is an incomplete chronological list of recipients of the British Mendelssohn Scholarship.UK Mendelssohn Scholarship Foundation website
accessed 26 April 2015 *1856 –

*1865 – Charles Swinnerton Heap *1871 –

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

*1873 – Eaton Faning *1875 – Frederick Corder *1879 – Maude Valérie White *1881 –

Eugen d'Albert Eugen (originally Eugène) Francis Charles d'Albert (10 April 1864 – 3 March 1932) was a Scottish-born pianist and composer. Educated in Britain, d'Albert showed early musical talent and, at the age of seventeen, he won a scholarship to stud ...

*1884 – Marie Wurm *1890 – S P Waddington *1895 - Christopher Wilson *1899 – Percy Hilder Miles *1905 – George Dyson *1909 – Eric William Gritton *1912 – Joseph Alan Taffs *1916 – Philip Levi *1921 – Arthur Lawrence Sandford *1923 – Percy Purvis Turnbull *1927 –

Godfrey Sampson Godfrey Sampson (1 June 1902 - 21 June 1949) was an English composer and organist, best remembered for his church and choral music. Sampson was born in Gloucester, the son of a clergyman, and attended Westminster School. From 1920 he studied com ...

*1929 –

David Moule-Evans David Moule-Evans (21 November 1905 – 18 May 1988) was an English composer, conductor and academic. Moule-Evans was born in Ashford, Kent, and was educated at the Judd School in Tonbridge before studying at the Royal College of Music in London ...

*1932 – Clifton Ivor Walsworth *1935 – Daniel Jones *1948 –

*1951 – Kenneth Leighton *1954 – Francis Burt *1956 – John Exton *1960 – David Blake *1962 – Richard Stoker *1964 –

Patric Standford Patric Standford (5 February 1939 – 23 April 2014) was an English composer, supporter of composers' rights, educationalist and author. Early life and education Patric John Standford (real name John Gledhill) was born in Barnsley, moved to t ...

*1968 –

Brian Ferneyhough Brian John Peter Ferneyhough (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer. Ferneyhough is typically considered the central figure of the New Complexity movement. Ferneyhough has taught composition at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and ...

*1969 – Jonathan Lloyd *1972 – Nicola LeFanu *1974 – Richard Blackford *1979 –

Lionel Sainsbury Lionel Sainsbury is an English pianist and classical composer. Biography Born in Wiltshire in 1958, he started playing piano as a child, and soon started to compose his own music. Later he studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in ...

*1985 – James Harley *1986 – Javier Alvarez *1988 – Martin Butler *1997 –

Richard Causton Richard Causton may refer to: * Richard Causton, 1st Baron Southwark (1843–1929) * Richard Causton (composer) Richard Causton (born 1971) is an English composer and teacher. Biography Born in London, Richard Causton attended Quintin Kynaston ...

*2000 –

Luke Bedford Luke Bedford (born 25 April 1978) is a British composer. He studied composition with Edwin Roxburgh and Simon Bainbridge at the Royal College of Music, and won the Mendelssohn Scholarship in 2000. This was followed by post-graduate study with S ...

*2002 – Cheryl Frances-Hoad *2004 – Oliver Searle *2006 – Nadja Plein *2008 – Steven Daverson *2010 – Samuel Bordoli *2012 – Christian Mason *2014 – Arne Gieshoff *2016 – Nicholas Moroz *2018 – Nicholas Morrish *2019 – Angela Slater *2022 – Hugo Bell

References

External links

of the UK Mendelssohn Scholarship Foundation {{Classical music awards British music awards East German awards German music awards Classical music awards Felix Mendelssohn University of Music and Theatre Leipzig Royal Academy of Music Scholarships in the United Kingdom Scholarships in Germany