1 - Introduction

Summary

The brief introduction situates Hensel’s String Quartet within the course of her compositional development, showing its significance here and its implications for understanding her modern reception. The string quartet genre held an enormous prestige in Hensel’s time, and the creation of this composition was implicitly a gesture showcasing her worth outside the ‘feminine’ sphere of solo lied and piano miniature. I also explain the position of this book within current, developing positions in the discussion of the music of female composers. This issue is especially pointed in this instance given the intimate relation and two-way interaction between the music of Fanny Hensel and her younger brother, Felix Mendelssohn. Hensel’s quartet makes an intriguing case study: its absence of significant reception history forces us to concentrate more on the actual music rather than what has been said about it.