Hello bubba7
Mendelssohn's friends were Heinrich and Carl Baermann, father and son,
who had welcomed Mendelssohn to their home in Munich in 1830. This is
probably where he got the first taste of Carl's dampfnudeln - the
dumplings - and rahmstrudel - the cheese strudel.
Two years later they came to visit him in Berlin where the bargain was
struck: cooking for composing. The two young men, Felix Mendelssohn
and Carl Baermann, who were both in their early twenties, worked in
chefs' hats and aprons.
Carl wrote:
" When I showed up at the appointed time, he [Mendelssohn] put a
chef's hat on my head, drew an apron around my waist and stuck a
cooking spoon into the waistband. He did the same himself, except that
instead of a spoon, he stuck a pen behind his ear. Then, to the great
delight of the kitchen staff, he led me into the kitchen... He
returned to his room where, as he said, he was going to stir and knead
the tones, add salt and pepper, sweeten them and make a spicy sauce
before cooking everything over a good hot fire... Everything had to be
ready at the ominous hour of five o'clock. As the clock struck five,
my heart skipped a beat, and I hoped that the dumplings had risen
properly. "
The quote is from what may have been a letter or diary of Carl's. It
comes from this webpage, but unfortunately the link to "Mendelssohn
and the Dumpling" isn't working and I haven't been able to find the
source of the quotation.
http://www.geometry.net/composers/mendelssohn_felix_page_no_3.php
Heinrich was a virtuoso clarinettist born in 1784, so in his late
forties on this occasion. Mendelssohn himself said he was one of the
best musicians he knew. Heinrich taught clarinet to his son Carl, who
also played the basset horn, and the two of them went on concert tours
together.
"More than 150 years after his death, Heinrich Joseph Baermann
(1784-1847) is still one of the most important and influential
clarinet players who ever lived. He was not only a brilliant performer
- as attested to by contemporary reports and as evidenced by
compositions that Weber, Meyerbeer, and Mendelssohn wrote for him - he
also trained his son, Carl Baermann (1810-1885), who became his
musical successor, one of the finest clarinet teachers ever.."
The Baermanns from a clarinettist's point of view:
http://www.iwu.edu/~rgarrett/mendelssohn.html
The pieces - Konzertstücke, ops. 113 and 114, in F Minor and D Minor -
have sometimes been performed with an orchestral accompaniment instead
of the piano. Sometimes a bassoon, cello or a second clarinet has
taken the part written for the basset horn.
There's a recording of the duets on a 'Vintage Woodwinds' CD by
Saeculum Aureum which uses instruments as authentic to the period as
possible:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000589BV/qid=1038253535/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/002-5235161-4384024?v=glance&s=classical&n=507846
Other sources:
Review of a recording of the duets with information about the
Baermanns and the meal:
http://www.musicweb.uk.net/classrev/2002/Sept02/Meyer.htm
Biographical information on both Baermanns. (Note that Heinrich's
brother was also called Carl.)
http://www.clarinet.org/Research/1998/Cipolla.htm
Reviews of the Saeculum Aureum recording, mentioning the famous
cooking
http://pw1.netcom.com/~rspece/saeculum_reviews.htm
I hope this fills you in on the Baermanns and the dumpling story.
Please feel free to 'request clarification' if anything needs further
explanation. Thank-you for an interesting question.
Regards - Leli
searches:
Mendelssohn strudel
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=mendelssohn+strudel&btnG=Google+Search
Mendelssohn Baermann
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=mendelssohn+baermann&btnG=Google+Search |
