Liebesfrühling (Spring of Love)

On 2 May 1836, Cécile Jeanrenaud wrote to her cousin in Leipzig, “We both received a highly amusing letter from Fritz recently, announcing Mr Mendelssohn's visit; I am looking forward to it – we have heard so much about him that I almost fear that I harbour too elevated a notion of his amiability.” It goes without saying that the name Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy was already familiar to the Jeanrenaud and Souchay families. During her childhood, Cécile had imagined the famous composer, who was just eight years her senior, as a grumpy, unapproachable old man wearing a silk headdress and endlessly playing fugues. Felix first introduced himself to the household of the Souchay family on 4 May. “There was something singular and congenial about the young man ..., Cécile was delightful, if a little more reticent than was her nature; only her eyes shone”, as her uncle recalled the encounter. Felix was deputising for Nepomuk Schelble for six weeks as choirmaster of the St Cecilia Association while the latter was indisposed, and it was not long before he became a regular visitor to the house. He engaged in sparkling conversation with Elisabeth Jeanrenaud, so that Cécile initially believed that her mother was the reason for his frequent visits. But through their shared passion for drawing, Felix found a way of becoming better acquainted with the person who was actually the object of his interest. “We had a very fine conversation as we sketched the prospect from the window”, Cécile disclosed to her cousin. After taking a bathing cure, Felix returned to Frankfurt. Only a few days later – on 9 September – Cécile and Felix announced their engagement before he was required to return to Leipzig for the start of the concert season.

The following January, Cécile travelled to Leipzig with her mother. She was introduced to her future mother-in-law and witnessed Felix in his professional capacity for the first time, having to deal with the considerable stress that went hand in hand with the many rehearsals and concerts. Following the splendid Leipzig premiere of his oratorio St Paul on 16 March, the couple set out for Frankfurt, where they were to marry on 28 March.