Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s iconic Overture in C is her only work for orchestra alone. Full of glistening melodies and evocative orchestrations, it’s highly representative of her style. While most of Fanny’s music was written for voice or keyboard, she had a special talent for utilizing wind and string instruments. From lyrical wind solos to lush string writing, the Overture shows off Fanny’s brilliant utilization of the full orchestra as well as her ability to blend harmonic language and rhythm. Written in sonata-allegro form, a slow introduction by the horns, strings and woodwinds leads to a clever and lively allegro section, striking first with sizzling strings before the theme hops around the orchestra. The winds reply to the string motif in a call and response as the overture blossoms through a charming wind interlude and pastoral string theme. Intensity continues to rise, building through the bassoons and lower strings to the majestic call and response between trumpets and horns. The Overture ends with a playful variation of the theme which climbs to the final ringing chords across the orchestra. Fanny’s Overture in C was tragically never published in her lifetime, and after reconstructing the composer’s own heavily revised score, Editor JoAnn Falletta conducted its long-awaited premiere recording in 1992 and released this definitive edition with Carl Fischer Music. Today, Fanny Hensel’s Overture in C is rightfully celebrated in the standard repertoire and performed by top orchestras worldwide.
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s iconic Overture in C is her only work for orchestra alone. Full of glistening melodies and evocative orchestrations, it’s highly representative of her style. While most of Fanny’s music was written for voice or keyboard, she had a special talent for utilizing wind and string instruments. From lyrical wind solos to lush string writing, the Overture shows off Fanny’s brilliant utilization of the full orchestra as well as her ability to blend harmonic language and rhythm. Written in sonata-allegro form, a slow introduction by the horns, strings and woodwinds leads to a clever and lively allegro section, striking first with sizzling strings before the theme hops around the orchestra. The winds reply to the string motif in a call and response as the overture blossoms through a charming wind interlude and pastoral string theme. Intensity continues to rise, building through the bassoons and lower strings to the majestic call and response between trumpets and horns. The Overture ends with a playful variation of the theme which climbs to the final ringing chords across the orchestra. Fanny’s Overture in C was tragically never published in her lifetime, and after reconstructing the composer’s own heavily revised score, Editor JoAnn Falletta conducted its long-awaited premiere recording in 1992 and released this definitive edition with Carl Fischer Music. Today, Fanny Hensel’s Overture in C is rightfully celebrated in the standard repertoire and performed by top orchestras worldwide.
