From Apprentice to Journeyman (1823—1824)

Abstract “He is growing beneath my eyes” —so Zelter described Felix’s unbridled development as a composer in 1823, when he created a spate of string sym- phonies, two concerti, another piano quartet, string quartet, violin sonata, Kyrie, Lieder, piano and organ works, and completed his fourth opera, Die beiden Neffen. Capping this startling productivity was the publication late that year of the C-minor Piano Quartet, Felix’s professional debut. Released by A. M. Schlesinger, the work was actually engraved in Paris by Schlesinger’s son Maurice, himself a music publisher, who also brought out in 1823 a more weighty composition in C minor—Beethoven’s transcendent final piano sonata, Op. 111. Felix’s Op. 1 was thus an international event. The Parisian virtuoso J. P. Pixis,”thrilled by the splendid genius which expresses itself in this music,” read the quartet, and a Leipzig reviewer lauded the work of a young genius following the footsteps of Mozart. But a Berlin critic was more tempered—the quartet lacked Mozart’s “in- vigorating freshness.” The scherzo was original, the finale worthy of praise, but Felix still needed to produce something to advance the art significantly. The mantle worn by the second Mozart was heavy indeed.