ABSTRACT
These studies focus on Hensel’s musical work in general, or include discussion of more than one genre.
269. Bolzan, Claudio. “Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel: Gli anni del ripensamento e della disillusione.” Piano Time 15, no. 157 (1997): 34–41. ISSN: 1128-2274
Explores Hensel’s compositions from 1842–1844, which Bolzan terms her “years of rethinking and disillusionment.” These compositions encompass a number of lieder and piano works, the Faust-Szene, and an album leaf for Theresa Wartel.
270. Brickman, Scott Thomas. “Analysis and Interpretation of Fanny Hensel’s ‘Italien’, ‘Notturno’ and Piano Trio (First Movement).” PhD diss., Brandeis University, 1996. 96 pp.
This dissertation is largely analysis of the named works.
271. Huber, Annegret. “Anmerkungen zu ‘Schreibart’ und ‘Lebensprinzip’ einiger Sonatenhauptsätze von Fanny Hensel.” In Fanny Hensel, geb. Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Das Werk, edited by Martina Helmig, 93–104. München: edition text+kritik, 1997. ISBN: 3-88377-574-6
An analytical overview of Hensel’s engagement with sonata form across a range of works and genres, in the context of mid-nineteenth-century understanding of sonatas and viewed in light of Beethoven’s late works. Works examined include (but are not limited to) the Sonatensatz in E major, the Piano Quartet, and the String Quartet.
272. Mace, Angela Regina. “Fanny Hensel, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, and the Formation of the Mendelssohnian Style.” PhD diss., Duke University, 2013.
See no. 429.
273. Mace Christian, Angela. “Fanny Hensel geb. Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Amateur or Professional? A Closer Look at the Chronology of Her Compositional Output.” Mendelssohn Studien 20 (2017): 153–173. ISSN: 0340-8140
Mace Christian considers whether Hensel’s compositional output and publishing record merit the designation of professional or amateur, categories that were fraught with gender-based significance in the nineteenth century. Mace Christian compares Hensel’s compositional productivity and publishing record to that of her brother Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. The discussion is placed in the context of the scholarly debates of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries over Hensel’s biography and the degree to which Hensel was frustrated in her professional ambitions by family members or by larger cultural expectations.
274. Motte, Diether de la. “Analyse des Musik-Erlebens.” Üben & Musizieren: Zeitschrift für Musikschule, Studium und Berufspraxis 5, no. 4 (August 1988): 340–343. ISSN: 0174-6065
This article looks at works from a pedagogical-analytical perspective; two of them by Hensel: the first of her two Bagatelles (H-U 310) and her String Quartet. De la Motte notes the harmonic inventiveness of the latter.
275. Motte, Diether de la. “Liebeserklärung für Fanny (Fanny Hensel, geb. Mendelssohn, 1805–1847).” Musica: Zweimonatsschrift 41, no. 1 (February 1987): 40–42. ISSN: 0027-4518
A rhapsodic ode to Hensel’s lieder, especially the harmonic language.
276. Motte, Diether de la. “Liebeserklärung für Fanny.” Viva voce 42 (1997): 5–7.
A reformatted version of de la Motte’s article of the same name (no. 275).
277. Motte, Diether de la. “Tre dichiarazioni d’amore per Fanny Hensel.” Translated by Giuseppina La Face Bianconi. Rivista italiana di musicologia: Organo della Società Italiana di Musicologia 24, no. 1 (1989): 67–73. ISSN: 0035-6867
A revision and Italian translation of “Liebeserklärung für Fanny” (no. 275).
278. Ng, Samuel. “Rotation as Metaphor: Fanny Hensel’s Formal and Tonal Logic Reconsidered.” Indiana Theory Review 29, no. 2 (Fall 2011): 31–70. ISSN: 0271-8022
Building on analyses by Susan Wollenberg and Victoria Sirota, this examines Hensel’s use of “rotational form” (following the theories of Hepokoski and Darcy) in three works: the Allegro Moderato in A-flat major (1840), the Allegro Molto Vivace in E-flat major (1838), and the Lied ohne Worte, op. 8, no. 1 (1846). Ng interprets Hensel’s rotational forms as emblematic of the tensions in her life—contentment and restlessness, restraint and freedom—and reads her compositional output as ultimately providing a pathway for a coherent artistic voice to emerge.
279. Schröder, Gesine. “Fannys Studien.” In Fanny Hensel, geb. Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Das Werk, edited by Martina Helmig, 23–32. München: edition text+kritik, 1997. ISBN: 3-88377-574-6
Examination of an album containing sketches and exercises permits insight into Fanny’s studies with Carl Friedrich Zelter as well as her compositional process in the lied. Hensel not only mastered contrapuntal technique as Zelter taught it, she then elaborated and moved beyond it. When writing lieder, she typically started with the melodic contour and added the accompaniment later.
280. Streicher, Johannes. “Per Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel: Minima italica e altre divagioni.” In Ottocentro e oltre: Scritti in onore di Raoul Meloncelli, edited by Francesco Izzo and Johannes Streicher, 235–266. Rome: Editoriale Panthoen, 1993. ISBN: 88-78001-203-4
See no. 477.
281. Todd, R. Larry. “Fanny Hensel and Musical Style.” In Mendelssohn Essays, 217–231. New York: Routledge, 2008. ISBN: 9780415978149
This essay examines Hensel’s musical style to differentiate her aesthetic from her brother’s. Todd analyzes three piano works by Hensel (Wanderlied op. 8, no. 4, Andante con Moto op. 2, no. 2, and Andante con Espressione op. 8, no. 2) and two works by Mendelssohn (op. 38, no. 3 and op. 71, no. 6) in parallel. Hensel had a greater propensity for destabilizing and extending harmonic frameworks and using third relationships.
282. Thia, Sock Siang. “Portfolio of Recorded Performances and Exegesis: Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel and Clara Wieck-Schumann: A Study through Performance of Their Selected Piano Works.” PhD diss., University of Adelaide, 2014. 194 pp.
This dissertation provides historical background information about the two composers named in the title, followed by analysis and performance practice considerations for many of their works. Hensel’s works discussed include the Piano Sonata in G minor, Piano Trio in D minor (op. 11), and eleven character pieces for piano. Thia’s document accompanies a sound recording of these works.
283. Todd, R. Larry. “Hidden Treasures.” Organists’ Review 92, no. 1 (2006): 15–17. ISSN: 0048-2161
A highly accessible overview of Hensel’s compositions (although there is, oddly given the venue, no mention of the organ works). Todd also addresses the effect of social class on Hensel’s musical activities.
284. Winter, Geertje de. “Stijlanalyse van een keuze uit het werk van Fanny Hensel Mendelssohn.” PhD diss., Universiteit Gent, 1999.
