Ach! The birthday anniversary of yet another musical genius? Musical geniuses are certainly thick on the ground this time of year.

Felix Mendelssohn has the unfortunate reputation, as one wag put it, of having been “born a genius and died a talent.” With masterworks such as the “Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture” (composed at the age of 17) and the Octet for Strings (composed at 16!), it is difficult to argue against the assessment, especially when, later in life, the odd flash of inspiration (eg. the Violin Concerto in E Minor, his last major orchestral work, conceived when he was about 29 and written over six years) rends the gloom of stodgy choral works and cloying songs without words.

But there is no doubt he was influential, especially in Victorian England (hard to imagine William Sterndale Bennett or Sir Arthur Sullivan without him), where his music was adored, Scandinavia (particularly marked in his disciple Niels Wilhelm Gade), and not surprisingly Germany (cue early Richard Strauss).

His tenure as music director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra was also significant, not only for the number of performances, especially premieres, of important contemporary works (Schubert’s Symphony No. 9, Schumann’s Symphonies Nos. 1 & 4), but also as a breeding ground for top musical talent of the day (including Ferdinand David, Mendelssohn’s concertmaster, who played in the debut of the Violin Concerto).

Of course, Mendelssohn was also the most important figure in the revival of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, engineering the first performance, at the age of 20, since Bach’s death of the “St. Matthew Passion.”

Hey, so many composers are lucky to be remembered for but a single work. At least a fair amount of Mendelssohn’s output is still performed regularly. And he accomplished it all by the age of 38!

Happy birthday, Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847).