Charles Auchester

The novel, which was written between the years of 1846 and 1849, reflects the author's adulation of Felix Mendelssohn, who had died in 1847 (when the author was 17 years old), and who appears in the book as 'the Chevalier Seraphael'. The book attributes much of Seraphael/Mendelssohn's musical ability to his Jewish origins. At one point, a conversation between the character Aronach (based on Mendelssohn's teacher Carl Zelter), and Auchester runs: 'And that is why it is granted to the Hebrew nation – why they all possess it like a right!' I cried.

Charles Auchester

The novel, which was written between the years of 1846 and 1849, reflects the author's adulation of Felix Mendelssohn, who had died in 1847 (when the author was 17 years old), and who appears in the book as 'the Chevalier Seraphael'. The book attributes much of Seraphael/Mendelssohn's musical ability to his Jewish origins. At one point, a conversation between the character Aronach (based on Mendelssohn's teacher Carl Zelter), and Auchester runs: 'And that is why it is granted to the Hebrew nation – why they all possess it like a right!' I cried.