ELVEN (Mendelssohbn-Bartholdy)

Arranger: William Dressler

Prof. William Dressler was born in Nottingham, England and his father was at one time court flutiest to the King of Saxony. Mr. Dressler was graduated from the Cologne Conservatory of Music in 1847. Shortly after, he was first violinist of the Opera House in Wiesbaden and then became conductor. He came to this country in the early fifties as solo pianist and accompanist to Ole Bull. After traveling several seasons with concert companies Mr. Dressler settled in New York and devoted himself to teaching, playing in churches and composing. He was a former choirmaster and organist of the Fourth Avenue Presbyterina Church. He played in other churches, among them St. Charles Borromeo’s, St. Peter’s Roman Catholic in Brooklyn, and St.… Go to person page >

Composer: Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (b. Hamburg, Germany, 1809; d. Leipzig, Germany, 1847) was the son of banker Abraham Mendelssohn and the grandson of philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. His Jewish family became Christian and took the Bartholdy name (name of the estate of Mendelssohn's uncle) when baptized into the Lutheran church. The children all received an excellent musical education. Mendelssohn had his first public performance at the age of nine and by the age of sixteen had written several symphonies. Profoundly influenced by J. S. Bach's music, he conducted a performance of the St. Matthew Passion in 1829 (at age 20!) – the first performance since Bach's death, thus reintroducing Bach to the world. Mendelssohn organized the Domchor in Berlin… Go to person page >