FANNY

What happens when a brilliant young musician is told that her talent may be admired, but should never become her life's work?

FANNY: The Girl Whose Music Was Meant to Stay Home introduces young readers to the remarkable life of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, an extraordinary nineteenth-century pianist and composer whose musical gifts rivaled those of her younger brother, Felix Mendelssohn.

Fanny grew up surrounded by music, sharing teachers, ideas, compositions, and musical discoveries with Felix. At thirteen, she performed all twenty-four preludes from Book I of Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier from memory. Yet as Fanny and Felix grew older, their paths were treated very differently. Felix was encouraged to publish, perform, conduct, travel, and build a professional career, while Fanny was told that music should remain an ornament in her life rather than her profession.

But Fanny never stopped creating.

She wrote hundreds of compositions, organized and conducted Sunday concerts in Berlin, transformed her family home into a serious musical gathering place, and created works including songs, chamber music, choral music, piano pieces, and the remarkable Das Jahr. Some of her songs were even published under Felix's name before she finally made the courageous decision to publish under her own.

Through engaging storytelling, illustrations, historical details, and listening suggestions, this book invites children to discover not simply Felix Mendelssohn's sister, but Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel in her own right.

Her story is about talent, persistence, inequality, confidence, and believing that what you create deserves to be heard.

Part of the Little Composer Books series, FANNY helps young readers meet the real person behind the music and encourages them to listen to the works she left behind.