Virtuoso Texture in Fanny Hensel’s Piano Music

Abstract Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel wrote strongly worded paragraphs opposing Franz Liszt and the virtuoso school of performing and composing, but her words seem at odds with the high level of virtuosity that appears in her own piano music. This seeming contradiction will be shown to stem from her formulation of a useless virtuosity, as epitomized in Liszt’s music, which stood in opposition to a pure virtuosity that served the music itself.