Contact: Abigail Davidson, Publicist, WinePress Group, 360-802-9758, abigail@winepressgroup.com

ENUMCLAW, Wash., Nov. 5 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Broadway play and 1985 film "Amadeus" told the story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the gifted but rather eccentric composer who wowed Europe as a child prodigy only to fall into poverty and die at a young age. Felix Mendelssohn is often referred to as the Mozart of the 19th Century. They share many similarities. Both mastered music and began composing and performing when most kids their age were still playing in the dirt. Like Mozart, Mendelssohn could play a number of instruments and amazed audiences with his compositions. He also died young. But, while no award-winning plays or movies were written about his life, Felix Mendelssohn actually surpassed Mozart in success, writing his Octet in E-flat at age sixteen and the still famous Midsummer Night's Dream Overture, which became known as The Wedding March, at seventeen. Though it's said that his perfectionism kept him from reaching his full potential, he avoided the poverty and bohemian lifestyle of so many of his fellow musicians by maintaining a steady schedule of conducting, performing and teaching, and gaining the respect of music lovers and world leaders, including Queen Victoria.*

During a sabbatical in England, music professor Helen Martens discovered a set of letters written to Mendelssohn from his family, friends, and business connections. This find led her to research his life, his relationship with pianist Delphine von Schauroth and his great music, and write a story in novel form. Through "Felix Mendelssohn: From the Depths of His Heart," Martens hopes to not only make Mendelssohn known as a person but his extraordinary parents, siblings, and the-virtually-unknown Delphine as well. As the author unveils, it reveals him as a human being: noble, though somewhat flawed, who swam against the stream.

"Library Journal" said of Dr. Martens' book: "...this illuminating look at a celebrated artist and the contemporaeous society is recommended..."

For more information, to request a review copy of "Felix Mendelssohn: Out of the Depths of His Heart" or to schedule an interview, please contact Abigail Davidson by phone at 360-802-9758, or by email at abigail@winepressgroup.com. To purchase a copy visit www.winepressbooks.com or call 877-421-7323.

*Information found in The Lives of the Great Composers by Harold C. Schonberg, W.W. Norton and Company, 1997