After visiting numerous German cities, Switzerland was reached and its wonderful scenery stirred Mendelssohn’s poetic soul to the depths.  Yet, though his passionate love of nature was so impressed by the great mountains, forests and waterfalls, it was the sea which he loved best of all.  As he approached Naples, and saw the sea sparkling in the sun lighted bay, he exclaimed:  “To me it is the finest object in nature!  I love it almost more than the sky.  I always feel happy when I see before me the wide expanse of water.”  Rome, of course, was a center of fascination.  Every day he picked out some special object of interest to visit, which made that particular day one never to be forgotten.  The tour lasted until the spring of 1832, before Mendelssohn returned to his home in Berlin, only to leave it shortly afterwards to return to London.  This great city, in spite of its fogs, noises and turmoil, appealed to him more than the sunshine of Naples, the fascination of Florence or the beauty of Rome.

The comment on Mendelssohn that “he lived years where others only lived weeks,” gives a faint idea of the fulness with which his time was occupied.  It is only possible to touch on his activities in composition, for he was always at work.  In May 1836 when he was twenty-seven, he conducted in Duesseldorf the first performance of his oratorio of “St. Paul.”  At this period he wrote many of those charming piano pieces which he called “Songs without Words.”  This same year brought deepest happiness to Mendelssohn, in his engagement to Cecile Jean-Renaud, the beautiful daughter of a French Protestant clergyman.  The following spring they were married, a true marriage of love and stedfast devotion.

The greatest work of Mendelssohn’s career was his oratorio of “Elijah” which had long grown in his mind, until it was on the eve of completion in the spring of 1846.  In a letter to the famous singer Jenny Lind, an intimate friend, he writes:  “I am jumping about my room for joy.  If my work turns out half as good as I fancy it is, how pleased I shall be.”

During these years in which he conceived the “Elijah,” his fame had spread widely.  Honors had been bestowed on him by many royalties.  The King of Saxony had made him Capellmeister of his Court, and Queen Victoria had shown him many proofs of personal regard, which endeared him more than ever to the country which had first signally recognized his genius.

It was Leipsic perhaps which felt the power of his genius most conclusively.  The since famous Leipsic Conservatory was founded by him, and he was unceasing in his labors to advance art in every direction.  He also found time to carry out a long cherished plan to erect, at the threshold of the Thomas School, Leipsic, a monument to the memory of Sebastian Bach.