Italian Collection 1838-1841

Inspiration Abroad

In 1839-1840, Fanny Hensel, her husband Wilhelm, and their young son Sebastian took a year-long sojourn in Italy, a destination Fanny had long dreamed of visiting since hearing tales of the country from her brother Felix Mendelssohn. The Hensels’ travels included significant stays in Venice, Rome, and Naples, during which Fanny composed several pieces for voice and solo piano. HenselPushers has collected 10 piano compositions related to this journey—seven of which are available for free for the first time with this release.

The first two works in this collection feature the canals and gondolas of Venice. H337 “Notturno” was actually written before Fanny Hensel traveled to Italy, inspired by Felix’s Gondelieder among his Songs Without Words. The next year while in Venice, Hensel revisited the same barcarolle style and composed “Gondelfahrt” (translation: “Boat Ride”), alternatively titled “Serenata”.

In Rome, Fanny Hensel wrote three Klavierstücke, H346 , H349, and H350, with the last being among the longer single-movement pieces she wrote for the piano at over 500 measures. Further south in Naples, she wrote H356, published simply as “Lied” Op. 6, No. 2, possibly inspired by the view from their accommodations of the moon rising over Mt. Vesuvius.

During the trip, Hensel wrote three pieces named after locations in Rome: H353 “Villa Medicis”, H357 “Villa Mills” (later published as Op.2 No.4), and H352, which exists in three versions in her manuscripts as “Abschied” (“Farewell”), “Abschied von Rom” (“Farewell to Rome”), and “Ponte Molle” after the Milvian Bridge, the last waypoint for travelers leaving the Eternal City. H372 “Il Saltarello Romano” (alternatively titled “Tarantella”, after another style of Italian dance, and published as Op. 6, No. 4) was composed in Berlin in 1841 based on a musical sketch Fanny wrote while in Rome.

After returning to Berlin, The Hensels jointly produced a Reise-Album (“Travel Album”) of Fanny’s Italian compositions with illustrations by Wilhelm. The HenselPushers editions in this collection are based primarily on the Reise-Album manuscript.