Tuesday, November 24, 2009
10 AM Central Time

Helen Martens, author of Felix Mendelssohn: Out of the Depths of His Heart will guest on Caffé Concerto on KRCU-FM in Missouri.

Much of the world regards him as the most gifted musical genius of all time, but few people know Felix Mendelssohn the son, brother, husband, father, adversary, critic, and friend.

In Felix Mendelssohn: Out of the Depths of His Heart, scholar Helen Martens casts light on these aspects of a life that encompassed the greatest joys and deepest disappointments. Through thousands of solidly researched autograph letters, archival materials, and articles from nineteenth-century journals and newspapers of Mendelssohn’s musical life and his remarkable family, readers will discover:

• What motivated him in his personal life and in his art
• Where he found fulfillment and what sustained him in difficult times
• What God and the Bible meant to him
• What he thought of the process of composing, and which of his compositions satisfied him most and least
• Why he completed no opera after the age of eighteen
• How he met the beautiful, aristocratic pianist who moved in and out of his life

Music aficionados, history and biography enthusiasts, and every reader who enjoys compelling human drama will marvel over, empathize with, wonder at, and be captivated by Felix Mendelssohn, the story of the sometimes taciturn man whose musical genius revealed the depths of his heart.

Author, musician, and scholar Helen Martens holds a PhD in musicology from Columbia University. She has also taught music and conducted church, community, and college choirs. Martens is the author of numerous articles and the book Hutterite Songs, based on her doctoral dissertation. She is at work on a second book about Felix Mendelssohn, which includes information not found in Felix Mendelssohn: Out of the Depths of His Heart.