The Story of Felix Mendelssohn

Sample passage:
Success is a curious thing. Sometimes it brings to the winner a wreath of laurel, and sometimes a crown of thorns. How was it with Felix? In the midst of the wonderful success of the “Passion Music” he began to feel a coldness on the part of the musicians of Berlin. Whether it was his youth, his manner, his birth (for he was born a Jew, though his father early adopted the Christian faith), or what, an enmity surely became keenly felt. The fact that he had accomplished what they had never cared or dared to attempt may have been at the root of the matter, but this is only surmise. Naturally Felix grew to have a distaste for Berlin, and as his father spared nothing that would widen his culture and fit him for his life work, it was decided that he should travel.