Itzig family

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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.

Contents

Daniel Itzig (1723–1799)

Bella Itzig (1749–1824)

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]

Isaac Daniel Itzig (1750–1806)

Founded with his brother-in-law David Friedländer the Jewish Free School in Berlin in 1778, the first of its kind.

Susanna Itzig (1752–1814)

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 Itzig (b. 1755)

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.

Bonem Itzig (b. 1756)

Father of Friedrich Hitzig, architect of many 19th-century Berlin buildings, including the Stock Exchange built on the site of the Mendelssohn house.

Fanny (Feigele) Itzig (1758–1818)

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.

Caecilie (Zipperche) Itzig (1760–1836)

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.

Sara(h) Itzig (1761–1854)

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.

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Moses Mendelssohn was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the Haskalah, or 'Jewish Enlightenment' of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Born to a poor Jewish family in Dessau, Principality of Anhalt, and originally destined for a rabbinical career, Mendelssohn educated himself in German thought and literature. Through his writings on philosophy and religion he came to be regarded as a leading cultural figure of his time by both Christian and Jewish inhabitants of German-speaking Europe and beyond. His involvement in the Berlin textile industry formed the foundation of his family's wealth.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felix Mendelssohn</span> German composer (1809–1847)

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born and 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 and the String Octet. The melody for the Christmas carol "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" is also his. Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words are his most famous solo piano compositions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fanny Mendelssohn</span> 19th-century German pianist and composer

Fanny Mendelssohn was a German composer and pianist of the early Romantic era who was also known as Fanny (Cäcilie) Mendelssohn Bartholdy and, after her marriage, Fanny Hensel. Her compositions include 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 went unpublished in her lifetime. Although praised for her piano technique, she rarely gave public performances outside her family circle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilhelm Friedemann Bach</span> German composer and musician (1710–1784)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Mendelssohn Bartholdy</span> German chemist (1841–1880)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Friedländer</span> German banker, writer and communal leader (1750–1834)

David Friedländer was a German banker, writer and communal leader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henriette Herz</span> German writer (1764–1847)

Henriette Julie Herz is best known for the "salonnieres" or literary salons that she started with a group of emancipated Jews in Prussia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Itzig</span> German banker (1723–1799)

Daniel Itzig was a court Jew of Kings Frederick II the Great and Frederick William II of Prussia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sing-Akademie zu Berlin</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy</span> German banker (1776–1835)

Abraham Ernst Mendelssohn Bartholdy was a German banker and philanthropist. He was the father of Fanny Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn, Rebecka Mendelssohn, and Paul Mendelssohn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Hensel</span> German philosopher (1860–1930)

Paul Hugo Wilhelm Hensel was a German philosopher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fanny von Arnstein</span> Viennese socialite and salonnière

Baroness Franziska "Fanny" von Arnstein, born Vögele Itzig, was a Viennese socialite and salonnière.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jakob Salomon Bartholdy</span>

Jakob Ludwig Salomon Bartholdy was a Prussian diplomat and art patron.

Bartholdy is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mendelssohn family</span> Notable German Jewish family

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 grandson, the composer Felix Mendelssohn and his granddaughter, the composer Fanny Mendelssohn.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organ Sonatas (Bach)</span>

The organ sonatas, BWV 525–530 by Johann Sebastian Bach are a collection of six sonatas in trio sonata form. Each of the sonatas has three movements, with three independent parts in the two manuals and obbligato pedal. The collection was put together in Leipzig in the late 1720s and contained reworkings of prior compositions by Bach from earlier cantatas, organ works and chamber music as well as some newly composed movements. The sixth sonata, BWV 530, is the only one for which all three movements were specially composed for the collection. When played on an organ, the second manual part is often played an octave lower on the keyboard with appropriate registration. Commentators have suggested that the collection might partly have been intended for private study to perfect organ technique, some pointing out that its compass allows it to be played on a pedal clavichord. The collection of sonatas is generally regarded as one of Bach's masterpieces for organ. The sonatas are also considered to be amongst his most difficult compositions for the instrument.

Peter Bruns is a German cellist and university professor.

Hans-Günter Klein was a German musicologist, librarian, art historian, LGBT activist and researcher on the Mendelssohn family.

References

  1. Jeffrey S. Sposato, The Price of Assimilation: Felix Mendelssohn and Nineteenth-Century Anti-Semitic Tradition (Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 39, ISBN   0195149742

See also