Even though most of her works were unpublished, we do know that she wrote about 250 songs. The first set of songs to be published occurred in 1846, the year before she died. No doubt, she lacked self-confidence as a composer, but the era in which she was born did play a major part in her lack of published works. Most of her works were intended to be performed at the Mendelssohn weekly family gatherings, and thus her lack of published works reflects this pattern.
It is known that she wrote over 125 works for the piano, including sonatas, preludes and fugues, songs without words, bagatelles, organ music, and character pieces.
She did have a strong interest in Baroque contrapuntal procedures. Her piano music and Lieder show her lyrical style by showing us a wide range of tonal, harmonic, and formal changes. Her melodies are delightful, and her choice of German Romantic poets follows the Lieder tradition. Her two favorite poets were Goethe and Eichendorff. She was also influenced by the Romantic era's love of nature.
Mountain Yearning, her final composition is a Lied. The text is from a lyric nature poem by Joseph von Eichendorff. Typical for a Lied, it is for a solo voice and piano. It is also one of her most joyful works. The three verses are set in a modified strophic form, with a short piano interlude between each verse.
The tempo is very fast and light throughout. Yet, each verse has its own style. The first verse is folk-like and simple, in A major in 6/8 time. After the brief piano interlude, the second verse is in A minor, more dramatic, and extended by the repetition with variations of contour of the last text lines. The final verse also extends the thought, but the joyous music of the opening verse is heard. The pace is slowed, and text painting is shown by the voice and piano ascending at the end when the text is "reach to the realm of heaven."
This Lied is folk-like due to the lilting 6/8 meter and the outlines of triads in the melody. The piano contributes to the mood of this song by the use of a lilting, rollicking character, plus the interludes set the mood for the next verses.
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