Overture in C by Fanny Hensel Concert Band - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.1840024

Fanny Hensel, born Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847), was an exceptionally talented pianist and a prolific composer of the early Romantic era. She wrote more than 460 musical works–largely songs and solo piano pieces, but also a few chamber works and cantatas. Despite her formidable talent, Hensel’s opportunities to engage with music in the public sphere were constrained by the gender norms of her time, restrictions endorsed by her father, and, later, her brother Felix. The Overture in C, Hensel’s only work for orchestra not featuring vocalists, was composed in the spring of 1832 when she was 26 years old. This work was composed toward the end of a roughly year-long period during which she wrote several large-scale works, including two cantatas, an oratorio, and a dramatic scene for soprano and orchestra. Remarkably, this prolific compositional period coincided with Hensel's responsibilities of managing the family home: catering to the needs of her parents, siblings, husband, and her son Sebastian, who was not yet two years old. This time was also marked by financial challenges for the family, a widespread cholera outbreak, and the deaths of several close family friends. The Overture was premiered in 1834, two years after its completion, at one of Hensel’s bimonthly Sunday concerts held at her residence in Berlin, with Hensel conducting. This piece is a testament to her resilience and artistic brilliance in the face of the societal and personal challenges she navigated throughout her life. Arranged for concert band as part of an ongoing project to bring more music by women composers and songwriters into the worldwide repertoire #ArrangeMeGoals2023.