Felix Mendelssohn’s elder sister Fanny was for years just a footnote in music history, but is now recognized as a gifted composer in her own right. Possessing all of the fragile and intimate qualities of the German Romantic tradition, her songs are notable for their sensitive word-setting and deeply personal expressiveness.

This second volume includes ten world première recordings and is a collection of mostly unknown and unpublished settings of German poets such as Heine, Goethe and Hölty, coupled with six songs in English to texts by Byron and Mary Alexander.

Dorothea Craxton gives regular Lieder recitals and in recent years has given particular attention to the work of women composers of the romantic period – especially Clara Schumann and, in collaboration with pianist Babette Dorn, Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel.