Once more a thousand heartfelt thanks for the happy hours I owe to your “Studies;” they will long find an echo in my mind. I am sure they are the most valuable of your works,—that is, until you write another.
My best wishes accompany you on what I trust will be a happy and pleasant journey.
Please remember me most kindly to Mrs. Moscheles, and believe me
Ever yours,
F. Mendelssohn Bartholdy.
During the next two years Mendelssohn was cultivating and developing his natural gifts in every direction. He attended the lectures of Hegel, Ritter, and others at the Berlin University, was in frequent contact with some of the most prominent men of the day, and already took the highest position both as a composer and as a pianist. Amongst the friends who formed the select circle at his father’s house, and who remained attached to him through life, were Eduard Devrient, the distinguished actor and writer on Dramatic Art, and Carl Klingemann, who lived many years in England as Attaché to the Hanoverian Embassy. The latter was highly gifted as a poet, and many of Mendelssohn’s most popular songs were inspired by his verses.
Berlin, Dec. 12, 1828.
My dear Sir and esteemed Friend,—My son, in whom you take so kind an interest, is about to leave his home in a few months, and to go forth into the world. He is a musician, and a musician he means to remain; and in furtherance of his musical education he proposes to make some stay in Italy, France, England, and Germany, with a view to becoming acquainted with the great works of art, the prominent artists and art institutions of these countries, and of seeing for himself what Music aspires to, and what it has achieved.