The famous and complicated piano piece, "Easter Sonata" was written by Felix Mendelssohn, or so we thought. Recent investigations brought up the possibility that "Easter Sonata" was written by Felix's sister, Fanny. There was never any proof that the piece was written by Felix, it wasn't listed in any of Felix's composition catalogs. It was just assumed that the piece was written by a man, not a woman. "Easter Sonata" is known as being "masculine", "violent", and "ambitious". The manuscript of the song is said to have been lost for over 140 years. It turned up in 1970 in a French bookshop. The signature was "F. Mendelssohn". On Wednesday, "Easter Sonata" has finally been performed under Fanny's name.
How would you feel if you were Fanny, having to live in her brothers shadow for 188 years?
How do you feel about the assumptions made about the piece?
Is it fair that the composition was assumed to have been written by a man?
It would be devastating to me to live in my brothers shadow. I deserve to receive the recognition that comes from my accomplishments. I don't like that people made assumptions about the composition, but in that time period it wasn't normal for women to be composers. I don't think it was fair that Fanny's work seemed man-like, but it must have been really good.
Replies
Good job! -5 late
I would feel very sad that my brother gets all the credit, even though i wrote the piece. The assumptions are accurate for the time period, because men got more credit for things more so than females. It isn't really fair to assume that something was written by a man, but for the time period, it was actually pretty common for a man to compose music than women.
I would be upset and hurt that my brother got all the credit for a piece that I actually composed. Considering men were usually composers during that time period, it makes sense as to why everyone about assumptions. It's surprising no one, until recently, has noticed this.
If I was Fanny I would not like to live in the shadows of my brother and I would probably try to compete by finding something that I am really good at. No it was not fair to assume that the composition was assumed to have been written by male. I think at the time many people just assumed it because he was the actual famous singer.
I would be upset too. In this time period, it was strange for women to be composers and Fanny might have felt afraid to take the credit.
I would be upset that my brother got the credit for something I did. They really should've made an assumptions, but at the time there really were only male composers. In the time period this was written is was safe to assume that is was written by a man.
If I was her, I would feel pretty upset that people assumed that my brother wrote something that was actually mine. I agree with your answer for the second question; many of the composers of the time were men so it's kind of understandable why people thought it was her brother. In the age that this was written, it was probably normal to assume that a man would have written the piece, but the fact that people continued to think so up until recently is kind of surprising.
I would be angry too. Although I dislike it, it was common for only men to be composers in their time period. I'm glad this was brought to attention, Fanny deserves recognition for her work.
I would be upset and hurt that my brother got all the credit for an amazing piece that I actually composed. At the time, it makes sense that they would have assumed it was a man who wrote the piece, so that doesn't bother me too much. Although women also have violent and ambitious feelings just like men do.
It would be terrible to live in the shadow of someone I knew, knowing that the credit for the work I did was given to someone who actually didn't deserve it. I think it's not cool that people only acknowledged the work of men and not women. Although this is normal for the time period, I wish it wasn't. It isn't fair that the composition was assumed to have been written by a man, but that was the "normal thinking" of people back then.
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