Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809–1847) was a German composer, pianist, conductor, and educator whose work occupies a central place in nineteenth-century European music. Born in Hamburg and raised largely in Berlin, he received a broad humanistic and musical education and showed exceptional ability from childhood. His family entered the Lutheran church, and Mendelssohn's sacred compositions include works shaped by both Protestant biblical culture and the wider classical tradition.

Mendelssohn wrote orchestral, chamber, piano, choral, and sacred music, including the oratorios Paulus and Elijah. He also played a major role in the nineteenth-century revival of Johann Sebastian Bach's music and later helped found the Leipzig Conservatory. His Songs Without Words for piano became especially widely known.

Hymn editors adapted a melody from Mendelssohn's piano music into the tune commonly called CONSOLATION. That adaptation, rather than a tune composed by Mendelssohn specifically for congregational worship, has been paired in later hymnals with “Here, O My Lord, I See Thee Face to Face.” He died in Leipzig on November 4, 1847.