ABSTRACT
Erich Mendelsohn was born March 21, 1887, in Allenstein, East Prussia, the fifth of six children in a solidly middle-class family. Mendelsohn received a comprehensive musical education, married a serious musician, cellist Luise Maas, and considered music and musical composition analogous to architecture. Mendelsohn's work for the Munich Press Ball was theatrical in the fullest sense of the word. For several years, he designed sets for the annual event at the Deutsches Theater, along with processional costumes for about 400 people. In 1913, he used "Richard Strauss Week" as his departure point, and in 1914, he worked off Richard Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung. Another area of lifelong interest for Mendelsohn was the relationship between music and architecture. Mendelson frequently used particular pieces of music as inspirations for drawing. He named these designs after their inspirations: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Bach Toccata in C Major, Bach Cantata, and Brahms Quintet are few of his drawings.
