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Family manuscript collection · correspondence with Maria Billington HawesMendelssohn’s letters to Maria Billington Hawes
The family preserves photographs of two remarkable letters addressed to the contralto Maria Billington Hawes, daughter of the composer William Hawes. One is dated Birmingham, 25 September 1840; the other, 4 Hobart Place, 28 April 1847. Both close with a signature reading Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy.
About the manuscripts: These four photographs were supplied from the family collection. Both dated letter pages are annotated “Copy”, so the images are presented as family-held manuscript copies of correspondence attributed to Mendelssohn, rather than authenticated autograph originals. The working transcriptions below can be compared directly with the photographs.
1 · Birmingham, 25 September 1840
Address on envelope or folded cover: “Miss Maria B. Hawes / 7 Adelphi Terrace” (reading of the middle initial and street number appears secure). The cover also carries a separate handwritten endorsement.
Birmingham 25 Sept 40
My Dear Madam
Accept my sincere thanks for the songs you so kindly sent me, the perusal of which will afford me a great treat, as the one in C. has done yesterday evening when performed by you in so admirable & masterly a stile. All your performances at this festival will indeed be amongst my most pleasant & delightful recollections and I wish & hope we may soon meet again that I may have an opportunity of becoming more and more acquainted with your extraordinary musical talents.
Believe me always
yours very sincerely
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
This letter follows the 1840 Birmingham Triennial Music Festival, at which Maria appeared and Mendelssohn conducted his Lobgesang (Hymn of Praise) on 23 September. The correspondence mentions songs Maria sent for his perusal and performances at the festival; it does not specify that the “one in C” was from Lobgesang.
2 · Hobart Place, 28 April 1847
My Dear Madam
Many thanks for your kind note & your kind intention with regard to my Elijah. But I must leave this country on the 6th or 7th May at latest, & I hope to meet you on Friday & to tell you in person how much I regret not to be able to stay longer!
always very truly yours
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
4 Hobart Place
28 April 1847.
The photographed letter explicitly refers to “my Elijah”. It was written after the oratorio's first Birmingham performance on 26 August 1846 and shortly before Mendelssohn left England in 1847. The exact nature of Maria's proposed assistance or “kind intention” cannot be determined from this letter alone.
Maria and the original performance of Elijah
The Morgan Library & Museum holds an annotated programme for Mendelssohn's Elijah premiere at the Birmingham Festival on 26 August 1846, listing “Miss M. B. Hawes” among its performers. Frederick George Edwards's The History of Mendelssohn's Oratorio ‘Elijah’ (1896) specifically identifies her as the first singer of “O rest in the Lord”, and describes an original performance copy of the aria with Mendelssohn's alterations.
In a letter of 5 April 1861 to S. W. Martin, preserved at Birmingham City Archives (MS 565/1), Maria, by then Maria B. Merest, recalled that Mendelssohn had been considering removing “O Rest in the Lord” until hearing her sing it at a rehearsal in Moscheles's home. That is Maria's own retrospective account, quoted in academic research; it is not stated in either of the two family-held Mendelssohn letters.
Six letters published in 1886
John S. Bumpus, “The Late Mrs. J. D. Merest (Maria B. Hawes), and Some Unpublished Letters of Mendelssohn”, The Musical Standard, vol. 30, no. 1143 (26 June 1886), pp. 406–407. Consulted in the RIPM PDF supplied by the family. The following are summaries of the printed letters, not transcriptions of newly located manuscripts.
5 June 1840 · Denmark Hill, Camberwell (Benecke’s)
Mendelssohn expresses his wish to play at Maria’s concert, without a question of terms between her, her father and himself. A possible journey to Dublin prevents a firm commitment. Addressed to Miss Maria B. Hawes, 7 Adelphi Terrace, Strand.
25 September 1840 · Birmingham
He thanks Maria for songs she sent, praises her performance of a song in C and recalls her festival performances with pleasure. This is also the letter represented by the family-held manuscript copy above: the printed publication supplies an independent historical witness to its text, without authenticating the photographed handwriting.
4 July 1842 · London
He thanks Maria for proposing to dedicate a composition to him and looks forward to knowing the song. Addressed to her at Mrs. Conway’s, 33 Jesus Lane, Cambridge.
17 December 1843 · Berlin
After consulting a Leipzig concert director, he recommends postponing her intended German visit until the following concert season. He offers an engagement for eight Gewandhaus concerts from October to December, followed by a benefit concert, on terms comparable to other English singers. He discusses travel and living expenses, and opportunities elsewhere in Germany. Addressed to 7 Adelphi Terrace, Strand. This documents an offer, not a completed engagement.
10 January 1844 · Berlin
He acknowledges Maria’s letter of the 3rd and says the Leipzig directors will correspond with her at Adelphi Terrace. He advises varied repertoire, including Italian and German music, Handel with English words and Donizetti, and discusses editions of his own songs.
2 October 1846 · London · To Mr. John Hawes
Writing before departure, Mendelssohn returns the remaining balance of money Maria had given him at Birmingham. He thanks John for kindness and expresses delight in his sister’s musical talent. The purpose of the money is not explained. Addressed to John Hawes, Esq., 7 Adelphi Terrace.
Provenance and remaining questions
Bumpus states that the letters were published for the first time from originals then in the possession of Mr. John Hawes, with his permission. This is a provenance statement made in 1886; it does not identify their present location or establish that the John Hawes then holding them was the same person addressed in 1846. Five printed letters address Maria and one addresses John. The family’s 28 April 1847 letter is not included in this selection.
The obituary says Maria obtained Mendelssohn’s autograph “for her book” at Birmingham in 1840, together with music from St Paul. An autograph album is a possible interpretation; the extract does not establish or reproduce a diary. Tracing that book and the original letters remains a research question.
Bumpus also says O rest in the Lord was composed expressly for Maria. That assertion should be cited as his 1886 account, rather than represented as a statement in these letters.
Source inventory
Independent historical references
- Morgan Library & Museum: contemporary signed and annotated Birmingham premiere programme (1846).
- Frederick G. Edwards, The History of Mendelssohn's Oratorio ‘Elijah’ (1896).
- Academic thesis discussing Maria's 5 April 1861 letter, Birmingham City Archives MS 565/1.
- Dictionary of Music and Musicians: Lobgesang performed at Birmingham 23 September 1840.
Holding: Hawes family collection. Manuscript pages and covers should be conserved and photographed under diffuse light without flattening brittle folds.