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Many of the thirteen children of Daniel Itzig and Miriam Wulff, and their descendants and spouses, had significant impact on both Jewish and German social and cultural (especially musical) history. Notable ones are set out below.
Married Levin Jacob Salomon. Their son Jakob Salomon (1774–1825) converted to Christianity and took the surname Bartholdy, and was for a time Prussian consul in Italy. Their daughter Lea (1777–1842) married Abraham Mendelssohn (1776-1835; the son of Moses Mendelssohn). Lea and Abraham's children were Felix Mendelssohn and Fanny Mendelssohn (Jakob persuaded Abraham Mendelssohn to adopt the Bartholdy surname). It was Bella who, "unaware of Felix's baptism", gave a manuscript of Bach's St. Matthew Passion to her grandson Felix Mendelssohn in 1824. [1]
Founded with his brother-in-law David Friedländer the Jewish Free School in Berlin in 1778, the first of its kind.
Married David Friedländer, joint founder of the Jewish Free School in Berlin, who employed Moses Mendelssohn in his silk factory, and founded the bank of 'Mendelssohn and Friedländer' with Moses's son, Joseph. Friedländer was a major force in the movement for Jewish religious reform.
Elias was the father of the lawyer Julius Eduard Hitzig, butt of many gibes by Heinrich Heine, and of Henriette Itzig who married Nathan (Carl Theodore) Mendelssohn, son of Moses Mendelssohn.
Father of Friedrich Hitzig, architect of many 19th-century Berlin buildings, including the Stock Exchange built on the site of the Mendelssohn house.
Married the Viennese banker Baron Nathan Adam von Arnstein. They were both patrons and acquaintances of Mozart in Vienna. Their daughter, Baroness Henriette von Pereira-Arnstein, was a constant correspondent of her cousin, Felix Mendelssohn's mother Lea.
Married the Viennese banker Freiherr Bernhard von Eskeles, who joined his brother-in-law Arnstein (see above) in partnership. They were patrons of Mozart and also of Ignaz Moscheles who gave piano lessons to Caecilie.
Married Solomon Levy. A talented keyboard player, she was the favourite pupil of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and supported the widow of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. She performed the harpsichord part at the premiere of the Concerto for Fortepiano and Harpsichord by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and probably commissioned the piece. She took a strong interest in the musical education of her grandnephew Felix Mendelssohn, recommending Zelter as his teacher. Her unique collection of Bach manuscripts was left to the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin, where she often performed in concerts.
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German Classical period composer and musician, the fifth child and second surviving son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach.
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonies, concertos, piano music, organ music and chamber music. His best-known works include the overture and incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Italian Symphony, the Scottish Symphony, the oratorio St. Paul, the oratorio Elijah, the overture The Hebrides, the mature Violin Concerto, the String Octet, and the melody used in the Christmas carol "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing". Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words are his most famous solo piano compositions.
Fanny Mendelssohn was a German composer and pianist of the early Romantic era who was known as Fanny Hensel after her marriage. Her compositions include a string quartet, a piano trio, a piano quartet, an orchestral overture, four cantatas, more than 125 pieces for the piano and over 250 lieder, most of which were unpublished in her lifetime. Although lauded for her piano technique, she rarely gave public performances outside her family circle.
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach was a German composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was the second child and eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach. Despite his acknowledged genius as an improviser and composer, his income and employment were unstable, and he died in poverty.
Paul Mendelssohn Bartholdy was a German chemist and a pioneer in the manufacture of aniline dye. He co-founded the Aktien-Gesellschaft für Anilin-Fabrikation (AGFA), a German chemical company.
David Friedländer was a German banker, writer and communal leader.
Henriette Julie Herz is best known for the "salonnieres" or literary salons that she started with a group of emancipated Jews in Prussia.
Daniel Itzig was a court Jew of Kings Frederick II the Great and Frederick William II of Prussia.
The Sing-Akademie zu Berlin, also known as the Berliner Singakademie, is a musical society founded in Berlin in 1791 by Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch, harpsichordist to the court of Prussia, on the model of the 18th-century London Academy of Ancient Music.
Abraham Ernst Mendelssohn Bartholdy was a German Jewish banker and philanthropist. He was the father of Fanny Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn, Rebecka Mendelssohn, and Paul Mendelssohn.
Baroness Franziska "Fanny" von Arnstein, born Vögele Itzig, was a Viennese socialite and salonnière.
Jakob Ludwig Salomon Bartholdy was a Prussian diplomat and art patron.
Bartholdy is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
The Mendelssohn family are the descendants of Mendel of Dessau. The German Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn and his brother Saul were the first to adopt the surname Mendelssohn. The family includes his grandchildren, the composers Fanny Mendelssohn and Felix.
Johann Sebastian Bach's music has been performed by musicians of his own time, and in the second half of the eighteenth century by his sons and students, and by the next generations of musicians and composers such as the young Beethoven. Felix Mendelssohn renewed the attention for Bach's music by his performances in the 19th century. In the 20th century Bach's music was performed and recorded by artists specializing in the music of the composer, such as Albert Schweitzer, Helmut Walcha and Karl Richter. With the advent of the historically informed performance practice Bach's music was prominently featured by artists such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Gustav Leonhardt and Sigiswald Kuijken.
Hans-Günter Klein was a German musicologist, librarian, art historian, LGBT activist and researcher on the Mendelssohn family.
Lea Mendelssohn Bartholdy, née Lea Salomon, was a musician, musical promoter, and salonièrre. She was the wife of banker and cultural patron Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy and mother of the composer Fanny Hensel, the composer Felix Mendelssohn, the singer and salonnière Rebeckah Mendelssohn Dirichlet and the banker and cellist Paul Mendelssohn Bartholdy. A promoter of music and culture, she was the centre of a musical salon in Berlin, which had developed since 1819 from the domestic musical life of the Mendelssohn family and gained considerable importance from 1831 onwards through the activities of her daughter Fanny.
Sara Levy, born Sara Itzig was a German harpsichordist, patron of the arts and music collector. Her salon was the meeting place of the most important musicians and scholars in Berlin, and she was also known as a philanthropist.
Bella Salomon was a prominent Jewish collector of music. Along with her more famous sister Sara Levy she was influential in maintaining the musical legacy of Johann Sebastian Bach. She was also the grandmother of Felix Mendelssohn.
Cäcilie von Eskeles was a prominent German Jewish noblewoman, salonnière, music collector and harpsichordist in early 19th century Vienna. She was a friend of Goethe and of Beethoven.