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Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel

Perfect Soprano Recital Selections

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Are you preparing for a Junior Recital, Senior Recital, or Graduate Recital? Deciding upon the perfect program of music for your performance is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. A vocalist must carefully select the right balance of music to appropriately highlight vocal skills. Curated from our database, here are 24 selections perfect to consider for inclusion in a Soprano recital.

Neue Liebe
Text by Heinrich Heine (1797-1856)
Set by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847), op. 19, #4
https://www.ipasource.com/neue-liebe-8243.html

Ach, um deine feuchten Schwingen
Text by Marianne von Willemer (1784-1860), attributed to Goethe
Set by Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel (1805-1847); Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847), op. 4, #4;
Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828), Suleika II, (D. 717)
https://www.ipasource.com/suleika.html

Die Schwalbe fliegt (Hexenlied)
Text by Ludwig Heinrich Christoph Hölty (1748-1776)
Set by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847), And’res Maienlied: Hexenlied, op. 8, #8
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/6898/category/831/

À une fontaine (To a fountain)
Text by Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585)
Set by Darius Milhaud (1892-1974), from Quatre Chansons de Ronsard, #1
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/8853/category/1774/

À Cupidon (To Cupid)
Text Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585)
Set Jacques Leguerney (1906-1997), Darius Milhaud (1892-1974), from Quatre Chansons de Ronsard,
#2
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/8854/category/1774/

Dieu vous gard’
Text by Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585)
Set by Sas Bunge, from Deux poèmes, #1; Darius Milhaud (1892-1974), from Quatre Chansons de
Ronsard, #4
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/8856/category/1774/

Quel guardo, il cavaliere… So anch’io la virtù magica
Norina’s aria from the opera Don Pasquale (soprano)
Text by Gaetano Donizetti and Giacomo Ruffini
Set by Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/190/category/424/

Ich folge dir gleichfalls
#9, aria for soprano from the Johannespassion (St. John Passion), BWV 245
Text from the Martin Luther translation of The Gospel According to St. John, chapters 18-19
Set by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
https://www.ipasource.com/ich-folge-dir-gleichfalls.html

Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen (Complete)
Cantata BWV 32 for soprano and bass for the 1st Sunday after Epiphany
Text by Georg Christian Lehms (1684-1717); Luke 2: 49; Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676)
Set by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
https://www.ipasource.com/bwv-032-liebster-jesu-mein-verlangen-complete.html

L’idéal (The Ideal)
Text by René-François Sully-Prudhomme (1839-1907)
Set by Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944)
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/5869/category/321/

Trahison (Betrayal)
Text by Edouard Guinand (1838-?)
Set by Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944)
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/5875/category/321/

Rosamonde
Text by Marc Constantin (1810-1888)
Set by Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944)
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/5874/category/321/

Hark! The Echoing Air
Air of the Second Woman from The Fairy Queen (soprano)
Text by Elkanah Settle (1648-1724) [Br] adapted from A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William
Shakespeare (1554-1616) [Br]
Set by Henry Purcell (1658/9-1695) [Br], Z. 629 no. 48 (1692)
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/1456/category/3442/

Der Hirt auf dem Felsen (The shepherd on the rock)
Text by Willhelm Müller (1794-1824) and Wilhelmina von Chézy (1783-1856)
Set by Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828), D. 965
https://www.ipasource.com/der-hirt-auf-dem-felsen-7493.html

Una voce poco fa
Rosina’s aria from the opera Il barbiere di Siviglia
Text by Cesare Sterbini (1784-1831)
Set by Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868)
https://www.ipasource.com/una-voce-poco-fa.html

Quatre chansons de jeunesse

Apparition (Apparition)
Text by Stéphane Mallarmé (1842-1898)
Set by Claude Debussy (1862-1918); Kaikhosru (Leon Dudley) Sorabji (1892-1988)
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/5968/category/364/

Clair de lune (Moonlight)
Text by Paul Verlaine (1844-1896)
Set by Gustave Charpentier (1860-1956); Claude Debussy (1862-1918), from Fêtes Galantes I, #2;
Alphons Diepenbrock (1862-1921); Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924), op. 46, # 2; Jósef Szulc (1875-1956),
from Dix mélodies sur des poésies de Verlaine, op. 83
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/5992/category/364/

Pantomime
Text by Paul Verlaine (1844-1896)
Set by Claude Debussy (1862-1918); Willem Pijper (1894-1947), from Fêtes galantes, #1; Kaikhosru
Sorabji (Leon Dudley) (1892-1988)
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/5966/category/364/

Pierrot
Text by Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823-1891)
Set by Claude Debussy (1862-1918); Francis Poulenc (1899-1963), FP. 66
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/5967/category/364/

Vado, ma dove?
Text by Lorenzo da Ponte (1749-1838)
Set by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), concert aria for soprano, K. 583
https://www.ipasource.com/vado-ma-dove.html

Auf dem Strom (On the River/In the Current)
Text by Ludwig Rellstab (1799-1860)
Set by Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828)
https://www.ipasource.com/auf-dem-strom-7557.html

Del cabello más sutil (Dos cantares populares)
Text by Anonymous
Set by Fernando J. Obradors (1897-1945), from Canciones clásicas españolas, vol. 1, #6
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/10257/category/3366/

La mi sola, Laureola
Text by Juan Ponce (1480?)
Set by Fernando J. Obradors (1897-1945), from Canciones clásicas españolas, vol. 1, #1
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/10252/category/3366/

Al amor
Text by Cristóbal de Castillejo (1491?-1556)
Set by Fernando J. Obradors (1897-1945), from Canciones clásicas españolas, vol. 1, #2
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/10253/category/3366/

More on recital prep:

Featured composer: Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel

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(1847) Hensel, Fanny Mendelssohn. Germany, 1847. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2009537803/.
Fanny Hensel, née Fanny [Cäcilie] Mendelssohn Bartholdy (November 14, 1805 – May 14, 1847) had a lifelong dream of being considered a serious composer. It is said that her talent was equal to and perhaps surpassed that of her famous brother, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy.

Fanny and Felix were children of Abraham and Lea Mendelssohn. When Napoleon’s troops occupied Hamburg in 1811, the Jewish family relocated to Berlin. In 1816, Fanny and Felix were baptized in Berlin as Lutherans, and the family took the surname of Bartholdy.

Abraham and Lea Mendelssohn valued education a great deal. They invested heavily in first self teaching their children, later arranging for tutors and other academic opportunities. Young Fanny’s mother Lea was her first piano teacher. (Lea Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s piano teacher was a student of Johann Sebastian Bach!) At age 13, Fanny could play all 24 Preludes from Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier from memory.

Societal customs of her time restricted women from pursuing musical careers. Women were expected to serve as wives and mothers rather than having occupation outside the home. While her brother Felix traveled and expanded his musical horizons, Fanny stayed in Berlin, continuing her pursuit of music within the confines of home. Her brother admired her work, but took the traditional stance of that time period that women not pursue careers other than being wives and mothers. She did convince Felix to publish six of her songs under his name, in his two sets of Twelve Songs (Opuses 8 and 9).

op. 008., as set by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy

op. 009., as set by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy

In exchange, Fanny served as an ongoing sounding board and critic of her brother’s work. Felix referred to her as “Minerva,” after the Roman Goddess of Wisdom, because he deeply valued her insight and musical knowledge.

Fanny married Wilhelm Hensel in 1829. The following year, their only child, Sebastian Ludwig Felix Hensel, was born. An interesting fact regarding the naming of Fanny and Wilhelm’s son: he was named after Fanny’s three favorite composers, in chronological order. Wilhelm was supportive of Fanny’s compositional efforts. Her work was performed alongside that of her brother Felix’s work at private, invitation-only salons held in the Mendelssohn household.

Fanny wrote more than 450 compositions, including chamber music, piano pieces, cantatas, oratorios, and lieder (art songs).

The handiwork of a number of poets were set by Fanny Hensel, including Heinrich Heine, Josef Karl Benedikt von Eichendorff, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Emanuel von Geibel, and Nikolaus Lenau. From the IPA Source database, here are a few selections as set by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel:

Poet Heinrich Heine (1797-1856)

Poet Josef Karl Benedikt von Eichendorff (1788-1857)

Poet Emanuel von Geibel (1815-1884)

Poet Nikolaus Lenau (1802-1850)

Carl Friedrich Zelter, leader of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin (of which Fanny and Felix were a part of), wrote a letter of introduction to the poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in 1816, introducing their father, Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy:

 

 

In a later letter to Goethe, Zelter described Fanny’s playing skills by saying “She plays like a man,” which was considered a high compliment at that time.

Poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

 

Very few of Fanny Hensel’s compositions were published. Most are only in manuscript form. There are IPA translations of 66 art songs (lieder) as set by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel in the IPA Source database. View our complete collection here: https://www.ipasource.com/composer/h/hensel-fanny-mendelssohn-1805-1847.html

Read more about the life of Fanny Hensel in our blog post of November, 2017.