To the Noble Artist, who, surrounded by the Baal-like worship of debased art, has been able, by his genius and science, to preserve faithfully, like another Elijah, the worship of true art, and once more accustom our ear, amid the whirl of empty, frivolous sounds, to the pure tones of sympathetic feeling and legitimate harmony: to the Great Master, who makes us conscious of the unity of his conception, through the whole maze of his creation, from the soft whispering to the mighty raging of the elements. –Inscribed in grateful remembrance of Mendelssohn by Prince Albert at Buckingham Palace on April 24, 1847.

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) was shockingly gifted as a child. He painted with skill, wrote flowing poetry, succeeded in sports, spoke several languages, played several instruments, and completed one of the great chamber works of the nineteenth century—his Octet for Strings—at the age of only sixteen. He was born into a wealthy Jewish-German family, and his talents were encouraged by his parents and, most of all, by his sister, with whom Felix would maintain the closest of friendships throughout his life. He made his concert debut in 1818, met and befriended Goethe when he was only 12, and in 1826 (a year after the Octet) composed his overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which established his reputation internationally. Despite all that success, it was after three years of study at Berlin University that he finally decided upon a career in music!
At the age of 20, Mendelssohn became a champion of the music of Bach, which had passed into obscurity throughout Europe. He led the first performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion since the composer’s death in 1750. Near the end of the year, he made his first visit to England, where he was widely lauded as both pianist and composer. After touring in Scotland, he returned to the European mainland to spend two years touring Germany, Austria and Italy. He visited England again in 1832 and 1833 and became a popular guest with what would become the London Philharmonic. In 1835, he took the conducting post with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. In 1843, he established a music conservatory in Leipzig, assisted by Robert Schumann. In 1847, he made his tenth and final visit to England, where he befriended Queen Victoria and taught piano to Prince Albert. In May of that year, his beloved sister Fanny died and the shock if this loss, together with the pressure of severe overwork, led to his own death six months later.
Mendelssohn read Victor Hugo’s tragic drama, Ruy Blas, in 1839 and is said to have hated it. Nonetheless, the drama became something of a popular favorite in much of Europe, so Mendelssohn must not have been surprised when, shortly after reading the work, he received a commission to write an overture based it. He accepted the commission and wrote his Ruy Blas Overture, op. 95 in a few short weeks. Despite his dislike for the play itself, Mendelssohn opted to capture the big ideas—great passions and irreconcilable conflicts—and created a powerful dramatic work that ranks among the most effective and frequently performed of his overtures.