Mendelssohn’s sets of Songs without Words for solo piano include some of the most original of his piano pieces – lyrical miniatures that he started to compose in 1830. The Song without Words Op. 109 was composed in 1845, with a dedication to Lisa Cristiani and this short but warmly expressive piece turned out to be Mendelssohn’s last work for cello and piano. Cristiani was a French cellist who had played with Mendelssohn at a chamber music concert in Leipzig in October 1845 and he was instantly charmed by her. One of the first women to have a successful career as a solo cellist, Cristiani was 18 years old when she met Mendelssohn, and the travelled Europe over the next few years. During a particularly arduous tour to Russia in 1853, Cristiani succumbed to cholera, and she died at the age of 26.