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The Mendelssohn Scholarship (German: Mendelssohn-Stipendium) refers to two scholarships awarded in Germany and in the United Kingdom. Both commemorate the composer Felix Mendelssohn, and are awarded to promising young musicians to enable them to continue their development.
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History
Shortly after Mendelssohn's death in 1847, a group of his friends and admirers formed a committee in London to establish a scholarship to enable musicians to study at the Leipzig Conservatoire, which Mendelssohn had founded in 1843. Their fundraising included a performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah in 1848, featuring Jenny Lind. The link between London and Leipzig fell through, resulting in two Mendelssohn Scholarships.
Mendelssohn Scholarship in Germany
In Germany, the Mendelssohn Scholarship was established in the 1870s as a scholarship for foreign students to attend the Leipzig Conservatoire, and was funded by the Prussian state as part of an arrangement under which the Mendelssohn family donated the composer's manuscripts to the state. The first recipient was the composer, Engelbert Humperdinck, who used it to travel to Italy in 1879.
The scholarship in honour of a Jewish composer was discontinued by the Nazis in 1934. It was revived by the Ministry of Culture of the former East Germany in 1963, in the form of two annual prizes for composition and for performance. It is now awarded by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.
Recipients
As well as Humperdinck, recipients include the pianist Wilhelm Kempff and the composer Kurt Weill.
The following is an incomplete chronological list of recipients of the German Mendelssohn Scholarship.
1879 to 1935
Since 1963
Mendelssohn Scholarship in the United Kingdom
The funds raised at the 1848 concert were invested and allowed to accumulate until 1856, when Arthur Sullivan was elected as the first scholar. Since then it has been awarded from time to time, administered by the Mendelssohn Scholarship Foundation, which is linked to the Royal Academy of Music. The foundation was created by a trust deed in 1871. Its trustees include the composers Anthony Payne and Justin Connolly, and the principal of the Royal Academy of Music, Jonathan Freeman-Attwood; and its charitable objects are "For the education of musical students of both sexes in pursuance of the intentions of the founders".
Recipients
Recipients include the composers Frederick Corder, George Dyson, Malcolm Arnold and Kenneth Leighton.
The following is an incomplete chronological list of recipients of the British Mendelssohn Scholarship.