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Essential Hensel

So much regarding the true nature of Fanny Hensel (née Mendelssohn)'s talent and achievements – and potential – is difficult to gauge fully. Much of her work remains unpublished, available only in manuscript form in private collections. Her younger brother Felix, though he encouraged her musical activities, discouraged her from publishing any of her compositions. She died suddenly from a stroke on 14 May 1847 aged just 41, a day after composing the bustling, lively "Bergeslust".

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Throughout their lives – Felix himself died only shortly after his sister – the two brilliant siblings had inspired and challenged one another, but it was a relationship coloured by expectations of the time: that a male composer should be in the public domain and female composer should remain in the domestic sphere. It wasn't until Fanny married in 1829 (the painter Wilhelm Hensel) that she began to publish herself – encouraged to do so by her husband. Her compositions are estimated to total more than 500, though, encompassing large-scale genres as well as music on a domestic scale: oratorios (many as yet unrecorded) sit beside songs and solo piano works. Her taste and influences, meanwhile, reflect an admiration for composers – including Bach – that were out of fashion at the time. All these influences, as well as her own impressively wide learning lead to music full of invention, innovation and imposing character.