Sheppard, CraigKim, Mia HyeYeon2025-05-122025-05-122025-05-122025Kim_washington_0250E_27879.pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/1773/53027Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of Washington, 2025In recent years, increasing scholarly interest in female composers has brought renewed attention to Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805–1847), often recognized primarily as the sister of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809–1847). A highly gifted composer and pianist, she wrote over 400 works despite the societal limitations placed on women in her time. Although she was unable to pursue a professional musical career due to 19th-century patriarchal norms, she received an exceptional musical education alongside her brother and remained musically active, particularly through the Sonntagsmusiken ("Sunday Musicales")—a series of private concerts held at the Mendelssohn family home—where she presented and directed many of her compositions.One of her most significant works, Das Jahr ("The Year"), is a cycle of twelve character pieces—one for each month—plus Nachspiel ("postlude"), composed in 1841 and revised in 1842 as a Christmas gift for her husband, Wilhelm Hensel. Nearly 150 years later, the manuscript was rediscovered and published for the first time in 1989, followed by a facsimile of Hensel's final autograph version in 2000. Due to its relatively recent publication, Das Jahr has received limited analytical attention, leaving room for further exploration. This study provides an analytical examination of Das Jahr, situating it within the broader context of Hensel's life and musical influences. The first chapter explores her artistic development, education, relationship with Felix, and exposure to various musical traditions, while also providing a chronological overview of her compositions to illustrate her evolving style and creative ambitions. The second chapter offers a detailed analysis of Das Jahr, focusing on its structural, harmonic, and programmatic elements. Furthermore, this study examines Das Jahr as a Gesamtkunstwerk (total artwork), a fusion of literature, music, and visual art incorporating poetic epigrams from German Romantic poets such as Goethe, Tieck, and Schiller, as well as vignettes painted by Wilhelm Hensel. Ultimately, this dissertation seeks to deepen our understanding of Das Jahr as one of Hensel's most significant works, highlight her distinctive compositional voice, and reassess her contributions to 19th-century piano literature.application/pdfen-USCC BYMusicMusicThesis