Felix Mendelssohn's natural musical abilities were recognized early. He began piano lessons with his mother at age six, and learned so quickly that he had his first public appearance at age nine. Felix began composition and counterpoint lessons with the esteemed teacher Carl Friedrich Zelter in Berlin about 1819. His teacher was an advocate of the J.S. Bach tradition and gave his student a thorough grounding in the works of the older master and other composers of the Baroque and Classical eras.
Mendelssohn's earliest surviving compositions date from 1820, and in 1821 he composed the first six of what was to become a total of twelve symphonies for strings. These were written as composition exercises for his teacher, and the completed the set in 1823 when he was 14 years old. The string symphonies were thought lost for many years but they turned up in a library in Berlin after World War Two. These dozen string symphonies quickly led to Mendelssohn's early masterpieces the String Octet written at age sixteen and the Overture To A Midsummer Night's Dream written a year later.
Carl Zelter
The first six string symphonies are written in 3 movements with the later ones in 4 movements with the exception of No. 10 In B Minor which has one movement, and No. 11 In F Major which has 5 movements. No. 10 In B Minor may have had at least two more movements but they are lost. The work was written when Mendelssohn was 14 years old. There are three tempo designations in the work:
Adagio -A slow introduction begins this work with a nod to the music of J.S. Bach in feeling if not in construction. Towards the end the music lightens in mood and pays homage to Haydn and Mozart.
Allegro - The beginning of the movement proper is a sudden shift in tempo and mood that reflects C.P.E. Bach's empfindsamer Stil with the first theme in early Haydn's Sturm und Drang style. The second theme has a rapid and busy quality that became a trademark of Mendelssohn's style. A third section adds additional material that leads up to the traditional repeat of the exposition. The development section repeats the two themes in various guises with few real surprises but a deftness in handling the material that is amazing for a composer of but 14 years. The recapitulation begins with the first theme, and after a short section of transition the second theme returns in the home key of B minor.
Piu presto -The music increases in tempo and rushes breathlessly in a short coda that ends the work.
The career of many composers is a long road of constant growth, sometimes small, sometimes large, even sometimes a complete change in style. Beethoven's music from the very beginning of his career was different from his contemporaries, but the difference between his first symphony and his ninth, his first string quartet and his sixteenth, are huge.
Mendelssohn almost seems like he was formed a complete composer from a very early age, and his style and complexity of his music didn't change dramatically his entire career. Of course he also didn't live past his 38th year, so no one knows if he would have changed his essentially conservative musical voice later in life.
The String Octet is from 1825 when Mendelssohn was sixteen years old, and another of his popular compositions, Overture To A Midsummer Night's Dream was written a year later. These were far from Mendelssohn's first works as he had written twelve symphonies for strings between the ages of 12-14. The octet is for a double string quartet; 4 violins, 2 violas and 2 cellos. Mendelssohn himself left directions for its performance: "This Octet must be played by all instruments in symphonic orchestral style. Pianos and fortes must be strictly observed and more strongly emphasized than usual." That the work was written with this orchestral style is evident from the very opening of the work, and that the work lends itself admirably to transcription for full string orchestra.
The octet is in 4 movements and opens with the first theme directly, played by violin with accompaniment. The first movement is far and away the longest in length, but Mendelssohn's inventiveness and mastery of sonata form keeps things interesting. The second movement is a study in gracefulness tinged with a tad of restlessness. It is the third movement, the scherzo where Mendelssohn shows hos much of a master he really was at only sixteen. Unlike almost all scherzos that are in 3/4 or triple time and ternary form, this one is in 2/4 time and sonata form. It is a precursor to the Overture To A Midsummer Night's Dream written the following year. It is taken at a rapid tempo at a subdued music, the original 'fairy' music of which Mendelssohn is known for. The finale begins as a fugue and also brings back echoes of the scherzo.
Mendelssohn was a musical conservative who tolerated the music of Wagner, Liszt , Berlioz and others of the new school, but he had no admiration of it. He helped found the Leipzig Conservatory which mirrored his own views on music and upheld the conservative tradition. But all of that makes not a hoot of difference as far as his music. It is all well-crafted, inspired, and a delight to the ear.
Felix Mendelssohn musical precociousness was apparently comparable to Mozart's, but unlike Mozart he was fortunate enough to be born into a family that was financially well off . His parents recognized his musical gifts early on and hired the
best teachers of the time to give him private lessons. By the time Felix was fourteen he had written
12 symphonies for strings and many other compositions. The Mendelssohn
household in Berlin held private concerts in their home every Sunday morning.
There was a private orchestra of musicians that knew the family and
participated in the concerts where Felix's music was heard.
Some of Mendelssohn's most well known works were written
when he was still a teenager. HisString Octetwhen
he was sixteen, theOverture To A Midsummer Night's
Dreamwhen he was seventeen. His style seems
to have developed quite early, and stayed relatively unchanged during his short
life.
His Piano Concerto No. 1 was written in 1830 when he was 21
years old. He played the premiere in Munich in a concert that also included hisSymphony
No. 1, Overture To A Midsummer Night's Dreamand
some improvisations at the keyboard. Mendelssohn said he had composed the
concerto in only a few days and didn’t have a very high opinion of it:
"I wrote it in but a few days and almost carelessly;
nonetheless, it always pleased people the most, though me very little.”
Like Franz Liszt, Mendelssohn experimented with linking movements
together in this concerto, as there is no formal pause between movements. But
there is no doubt the concerto is in three distinct sections.
I. Molto allegro con fuoco -The concerto begins with
a few bars of introduction by the orchestra, and then the piano enters with a
bravura display. Many piano concertos of the time opened with a long orchestra
introduction of themes before the piano enters. There are a few notable
exceptions, such as Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 and Beethoven's 4th and
5th Piano Concertos. These examples have the piano enter with a brief
statement or comment, and then it remains silent until the end of the
orchestral introduction. Mendelssohn has the piano enter early also, but it
doesn't remain silent. It continues to play, and introduces the themes while
the orchestra comments on them later. This makes Mendelssohn's concertos
one of the first truly Romantic concertos that broke with tradition.
Franz Liszt and Clara Schumann helped make the concerto very
popular in its day. With the quick tempo and a piano part bristling with
arpeggios, scales, and octaves, the piano is the star and leader of the
ensemble as much of the thematic development is taken up by the piano. The
orchestra plays a secondary role, but adds much color and balance to the
movement. Mendelssohn manages to create a movement full of fire and passion
that retains elegance as well. The movement segues without a break to the next
movement.
II. Andante -The fiery first movement segues into a
gentle andante, one of Mendelssohn's songs without words, in E major. This
movement is slow, with a middle section that changes key for contrast. The initial
theme is slightly varied when it returns to end the movement.
III. Presto - Molto allegro e vivace - A fanfare for brass
leads into the finale, a quicksilver rondo where the piano ripples its way
through episodes and the refrain of the theme. The soloist's fingers scamper
over the keysin music that Mendelssohn intends
to be played very fast by the tempo designations. Towards the end of the movement, snippets of themes
from the first movement appear, and the movement grows to a brilliant conclusion.
No one is quite sure when Felix Mendelssohn composed the Rondo Capriccioso, with some musicologists offering up as early as 1824 when he was 15 years old. But there is certainty when it was fully composed and revised, for Mendelssohn put the date of June 13, 1830 on the revision.
Perhaps Mendelssohn revised it for a specific pianist, Delphine von Schauroth, who was from Munich. She was close to Mendelssohn's age, and they had met again when Mendelssohn was passing through Munich during his tour of Europe. They had met earlier in Paris in 1825, and Mendelssohn was quite taken with her. He thought about proposing marriage, but never did.
The Rondo Capriccioso is in two sections:
Andante In E Major - Modern research has determined that this section was added to the original etude in E minor during the revision of 1830. It begins softly, and the melody is a Song Without Words, a type of piano piece that was one of Mendelssohn's specialties. It lyrically leads to a segue to the next section.
Presto In E Minor - This second section is also one of Mendelssohn's musical specialties; music that is quick, light and sparkling. The technical demands on the pianist are not excessive, but there are some rapidly repeating thirds in the right hand that are a challenge to play in tempo with the lightness of touch needed. Material from the opening section returns briefly, and the music shifts to E minor for an ending in thundering alternating octaves. The entire piece lasts a little over six minutes, and was popular throughout the 19th century. it is still played in student recitals as well as by professional pianists as an encore.
Felix Mendelssohn's life was a busy one from the days of his youthful study of music and art to his adult life as a performer, administrator and composer. The year that his C minor piano trio was composed saw him take a break from his strenuous duties as conductor and music director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra. His tremendous workload had taken its toll on his health, which was never to be as robust as before. The death of his beloved sister Fanny in 1847 was the final tragedy he could not overcome. She had died of complications from a stroke, a family medical situation that also took the lives of both of his parents and grandfather. Felix had a series of strokes as well, and died at the age of 38 six months after his sister.
The 2nd piano trio came six years after the Piano Trio No. 1 In D Minor, which is more often performed than the 2nd.
I. Allegro energico e con fuoco -The beginning of the first movement starts with a swirl of C minor in the piano:
Mendelssohn's gift for melody was as great (and often greater) than other composers and it is one of the traits for which he is best known. But this opening is not a melody at all, and not much of a theme either. Mendelssohn was one of the musicians that was most involved with the bringing back of J.S. Bach's music to the public in the early 19th century, and this opening is similar to the way Bach created musical feeling by means of harmony without obvious melody. The strings take up the swirl as the piano plays the harmony in block chords. A melody finally begins that is in C minor and is an extension of the harmonies heard in the opening. The music seamlessly segues into what may be thought of as another main theme of the exposition, this time with hints of B-flat major and G minor. The opening motive returns before the exposition seamlessly moves into the development section without being repeated. The recapitulation has the expected modulations of keys in the secondary themes and leads to a coda that turns calm before it erupts in a blast of octaves in the piano and the movement ends in C minor.
II. Andante espressivo - The second movement is a gentle melody in E-flat major that is first heard in the piano. The strings comment upon it, and the melody continues until a section in the minor is heard. The music ebbs and flows, but remains in a graceful humor, even in the more bitter sweet moments in the middle section. III. Scherzo: Molto allegro quasi presto -A rapid scherzo of the type that Mendelssohn was known for:
If his intensely fast metronome marking of half note equals 88 beats is followed, it is a difficult movement to bring off with the proper lightness. It is quite short and ends before you know it.
IV. Finale: Allegro appassionato - This movement is a rondo, with the recurring rondo theme solidly in C minor while the various episodes that are played between repeats of the rondo theme differ in character:
One of the episodes sounds somewhat like a chorale that has been described as a chorale tune used by Bach (which indeed he did), a hymn written by Martin Luther titled Herr Gott Dich Loben Wir (Lord God We Praise You), and a melody known as Old Hundredth taken from the association it had with the 100th psalm in the English church that was sung to the words 'Praise God From Whom All Blessing Flow'. Why Mendelssohn used this tune is not known. Some conjecture that it was an affirmation of his conversion from Judaism to Christianity, but he never commented on it. Perhaps he just liked the tune and thought it would be a good fit for his piano trio. This episode returns near the end of the movement, and along with the main theme of the movement returning in C major, the trio ends in a positive mood.
Walpurgis night (Walpurgisnacht in German) is named after an 8th century English woman missionary St. Walpurga who traveled to the Germanic areas of Europe to convert the natives to Christianity. She was canonized on May 1st about 870. The celebration of Walpurgis night on April 30th is taken from the pagan folklore of a meeting of witches on the Brocken, the largest peak in the Harz mountain range in Germany. German poet Johann Goethe wrote the poem Die erste Walpurgisnacht (The First Walpurgisnight) in 1799 which was inspired by German folklore. Goethe wrote to his friend the composer Carl Friedrich Zelter:
...one of our German antiquarians has endeavoured to rescue, and to give an historical foundation for
the story of the witches’ and devils’ ride on the Brocken, a legend which has been current in Germany,
from time immemorial. His explanation is that the heathen priests and patriarchs of Germany, when
they were driven from their sacred groves and when Christianity was forced upon the people, used to
retire at the beginning of spring with their faithful followers to the wild, inaccessible heights of the Harz
mountains, in order, according to the ancient custom, there to offer prayer and flame to the unembodied
god of heaven and earth. And further, he thinks, they may have found it well to disguise a number of
their own people so as to keep their superstitious foes at a distance, and that thus, protected by the antics
of devils, they carried out the purest of services.
I found this explanation somewhere, a few years ago, but cannot remember the name of the author. The
idea pleased me, and I have turned this fabulous story back again into a poetical fable.”
Goethe wrote the poem with the intention of having it set to music by Zelter, but after two attempts the composer gave up. Zelter introduced his student Felix Mendelssohn to Goethe in 1821, after which Goethe told Zelter:
"Musical prodigies ... are probably no longer so rare; but what this little man can do in extemporizing and playing at sight borders the miraculous, and I could not have believed it possible at so early an age." "And yet you heard Mozart in his seventh year at Frankfurt?" said Zelter. "Yes", answered Goethe, "... but what your pupil already accomplishes, bears the same relation to the Mozart of that time that the cultivated talk of a grown-up person bears to the prattle of a child."
Mendelssohn took up Goethe's text in 1830 and completed the final version in 1843. Goethe's poem portrays the tale as a prank between the remaining pagans and druid priests against the Christian guards that prohibit their ancient rituals of Walpurgis night. The cantata is in ten parts and begins with an overture that depicts the bad weather of winter that transforms to the milder weather of spring.
1) Overture 2) May Smiles At Us Druid (Tenor)
May smiles at us!
The woods are free
of ice and hoarfrost
Chorus of the heathen
May smiles at us!
The woods are free
of ice and hoarfrost.
The snow is gone,
every green place
resounds with songs of pleasure.
Druid (Tenor)
A pure snow
lies on the peaks,
we haste upward,
to celebrate the ancient sacred rites,
to praise there the Father of All.
Let the flame blaze through the smoke!
Upward, upward!
Our hearts will be uplifted.
Chorus of the heathen
Let the flame blaze through the smoke!
Perform the old, sacred custom,
praising there the Father of All.
Upward! Upward!
Our hearts will be lifted.
3) Can You Act So Rashly? Old woman of the heathens (Mezzo-soprano)
Can you act so rashly?
Do you want to go to your death?
Do you not know the laws
of our stern conquerors?
Their nets are set all around
for the heathen, the 'sinners'.
On the battlements they'll slay
our fathers, our children.
And we are all
nearing this sure trap.
Chorus of women
On the camp's high battlements
they'll slaughter our children.
Ah, the stern conquerors!
And we are all
nearing this sure trap.
4) Whoever This Day Fears To Bring A Sacrifice The Priest (Baritone)
Whoever this day
fears to bring a sacrifice,
deserves his chains.
The forest is free!
The wood is ready,
prepare it for the burning!
Chorus of men
The forest is free!
The wood is ready,
prepare it for the burning!
The Priest (Baritone)
But we'll remain
in our wooded hideout
silently during the day,
and keep the men on their guard
for the sake of your concerns.
But then, with fresh courage,
let us fulfill our duty.
Chorus of men
Then let us with fresh courage
let us fulfill our duty.
The Priest (Baritone)
Spread out up here, brave men.
5) Spread Out Here Brave Men Chorus of druid guards
Spread out here, brave men,
through the entire forest,
and watch here silently
as they perform their duty.
6) These Stupid Christians One druid guard (Bass)
These stupid Christians -
let us boldly outsmart them!
With the every devil they invent
we'll terrify them.
Come! With stakes and pitchforks
and with flames and rattling sticks,
we'll make noise through the night
in these empty rocky gorges.
Chorus of druid guards
Come! With stakes and pitchforks
and with flames and rattling sticks,
we'll make noise through the night
in these empty rocky gorges.
The owls will howl at our racket!
One druid guard (Bass)
Come! Come! Come!
7) Come With Stakes And Pitchforks Chorus of druid guards and heathen
Come with stakes and pitchforks
and with flames and rattling sticks,
we'll make noise through the night
in these empty rocky gorges.
The owls will howl at our racket!
Come! Come! Come!
The Priest (Baritone)
We've been brought so far,
that by night we
sing in secret to the Father of All!
Yet when it is day,
as soon as we may,
we bring you a perfect heart.
8) Yet When It Is Day Chorus of druids and heathen
Yet when it is day,
as soon as we may,
we bring you a pure heart.
Priest and chorus
Today indeed,
and many times,
you've granted the foe success.
As the flame is purified in smoke,
so purify our faith!
And even if they rob us of our ancient ritual,
who can take your light from us?
9) Help, Oh Help Me A Christian guard (Tenor)
Help, oh help me, fellow soldier!
Alas, all hell is coming!
See, how the bewitched bodies
glow with flames through and through!
Werewolves and dragon women,
passing by in flight!
Chorus of Christian watchmen
Frightening bewitched bodies,
werewolves and dragon woman,
Let us flee, let us flee!
A Christian guard (Tenor)
What a fearful scramble!
Let us, let us all flee!
Above flames and sparkles the evil one,
out of the ground
steams a hellish brew.
Chorus of Christian watchmen
What a fearful scramble!
Let us, let us all flee!
Above flames and sparkles the evil one,
out of the ground
steams a hellish brew.
Christian guard and Christian watchmen
Let us flee, let us flee!
Chorus of druids and heathen
As the flame is purified by smoke,
so purify our faith!
10) As The Flame Is Purified By Smoke The Priest (Baritone)
As the flame is purified by smoke,
so purify our faith!
And even if they rob us of our ancient ritual,
who can take your light from us?
The title ItalianSymphony originated with Mendelssohn himself. During his trip in 1830-1831 he drew inspiration from Italy and sketched out the work during his trip. He completed the first version of the work in 1833 while in Berlin as a fulfilment of a commission from the Philharmonic Society of London. Mendelssohn led the premiere in London to great success, and the symphony was played again a month later. But Mendelssohn was dissatisfied with it, withdrew it, and revised it numerous times, continuing to work on it until his death. He refused to let it be performed and the work was not published in his lifetime. When it was published in 1851 there is some doubt as to what actual version of the symphony was used, but there is no doubt that it is one of Mendelssohn's most popular compositions.
Mendelssohn took inspiration from the people, landscape and culture of Italy but it was the visual arts that inspired him as much as the rest. Mendelssohn was not only a musician, but an accomplished amateur artist with the brush and pencil which made his appreciation of the art he saw even more keen. He described the things he saw to his teacher Zeltner in a letter from Venice:
My family have no doubt told you of the exhilarating impression made on me by the first sight of the plains of Italy. I hurry from one enjoyment to another hour by hour, and constantly see something novel and fresh; but immediately on my arrival I discovered some masterpieces of art, which I study with deep attention, and contemplate daily for a couple of hours at least. These are three pictures by Titian. The "Presentation of Mary as a Child in the Temple;" the "Assumption of the Virgin;" and the "Entombment of Christ." There is also a portrait by Giorgione, representing a girl with a cithern in her hand, plunged in thought, and looking forth from the picture in serious meditation (she is apparently about to begin a song, and you feel as if you must do the same): besides many others.
Symphony No. 4 In A Major 'Italian' is scored for pairs of woodwinds, horns and trumpets, timpani and strings. It is in four movements:
I. Allegro vivace - The movement begins with the dance-like first theme that unfolds at length before the second slightly less jubilant theme arrives. The exposition is repeated. The development section takes a snippet of theme in the minor and parades it through the string section in a complex contrapuntal texture. The woodwinds give reminders of the first theme until the strings continue in complexity. A transition signals the recapitulation. After themes are repeated, material from the development section returns briefly until the first theme begins a coda that wraps up the movement in the tonic of A major. II. Andante con moto - Written in D minor, the rather solemn first theme of this movement was inspired by the procession of monks in Rome, perhaps as he described in a letter:
Here I must deliver a eulogy on monks; they finish a picture at once, giving it tone and colour, with their wide loose gowns, their pious meditative, gait, and their dark aspect....In Albano, among girls with pitchers on their heads, vendors of flowers and vegetables, and all the crowd and tumult, we saw a coal-black dumb monk, returning to Monte Cavo, who formed a singular contrast to the rest of the scene. They seem to have taken entire possession of all this splendid country, and form a strange melancholy ground-tone for all that is lively, gay, and free, and the ever-living cheerfulness bestowed by nature. It is as if men, on that very account, required a counterpoise.
A second theme is adorned with trills and grace notes. This theme leads to a theme in major mode that is short lived. The solemn theme of the beginning returns. The major key theme makes another brief appearance, the theme with trills and grace notes leads to a short coda that contains a fragment of the first theme in augmentation, and the movement ends quietly.
III. Con moto moderato - Instead of a scherzo, Mendelssohn writes a refined old style minuet. The trio section is led by the horns with commentary by the woodwinds and strings. There is a contrasting section in a minor key within the trio. The minuet resumes but just before the end of the movement the horn theme from the trio makes a very brief return until the movement ends. IV. Presto and Finale: Saltarello -Mendelssohn begins the finale in the key of A minor with saltarello, a rapid Italian folk dance. The main theme runs through the orchestra and picks up a few different motives along the way, most of them in minor keys. In one section strings play rapid scales and figures in a section of counterpoint. The main theme ends the movement and has stubbornly stayed in A minor, a novelty for a large work such as a symphony, as up to this time works that began in minor keys ended in major keys.
Unlike the childhoods of many composers in the early 19th century, Felix Mendelssohn had the good fortune of being born into a family of wealth. His father was an influential banker and could afford to give the best to his children, including a sound overall education as well as a musical education after Felix showed his natural aptitude for the art.
Included in that education was the finest private teachers and opportunities to hear his latest compositions at the Sunday concerts held in his parent's home. Felix was to be exposed to other countries and cultures as well, and went on a Grand Tour of Europe beginning in 1829. He made his first trip to England while on the Grand Tour, where he met many of the leading musicians of the day. Mendelssohn was always very popular in England and made many trips there during his short life.
His visit to England in 1829 included a trip to Scotland, which inspired two compositions. The
Hebrides Overture also known as Fingal's Cave was inspired by this trip, as well as the 3rd Symphony In A Minor. While the Hebrides Overture was completed in 1830, Mendelssohn set the 3rd Symphony on the shelf in 1831, and didn't return to it until 1841, finally finishing it in 1842. As with the numbering of other composer's works, this symphony was the fifth in the order of completion but the third to be published, hence the numbering of it.
Mendelssohn visited a specific place in Scotland that gave him the first inspiration for a symphony, as he wrote in a letter home:
In darkening twilight today, we went to the Palace [of Holyrood] where Queen Mary lived and loved. There is a
little room to be seen there with a spiral staircase at its door. That is where they went up and found Rizzio in the
room, dragged him out, and three chambers away there is a dark corner where they murdered him. The chapel
beside it has lost its roof and is overgrown with grass and ivy, and at that broken altar Mary was crowned Queen
of Scotland. Everything there is ruined, decayed and open to the clear sky. I believe that I have found there today
the beginning of my Scotch Symphony.
The nickname of the symphony came directly from Mendelssohn, and refers to the inspiration the country gave him rather than any Scottish folk music he included in it. On the contrary, Mendelssohn was somewhat of a snob as far as folk music. He absolutely detested it and said so in another letter home:
No national music for me! Ten thousand devils take all nationality! Now I am in Wales and, dear me, a harper sits in the hall of every reputed inn, playing incessantly so-called national melodies; that is to say, the most infamous, vulgar, out-of-tune trash, with a hurdygurdy going on at the same time. It’s maddening, and has given me a toothache already.
The premiere of the symphony was in March 1842 by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, conducted by Mendelssohn. It is in four movements that are played without a break:
I. Andante con moto - Allegro un poco agitato - The movement begins with a melancholy introduction that was derived from sixteen measures written in piano score in 1829 while Mendelssohn was in Scotland. The movement uses this introduction as a basis for the themes and mood of the rest as can be felt when the first theme of the movement begins quietly, and grows to a fortissimo with the second theme. The first theme returns along with other thematic motives, including one just before the end of the exposition (which is indicated to be repeated in the core, but not all conductors do). The development begins softly and builds to a climax, after which the first theme is dealt with. The second theme and some other motives are included in the working out before there is a smooth segue to the recapitulation, after which a section that sounds like the wind howling is played. This leads to a climax, and then the music from the introduction returns and leads to the second movement that is played without pause. II. Vivace non troppo - The second movement begins with a short introduction and the clarinet plays the them for the first time:
Because of this theme's rhythmic and melodic nature, this movement is considered by many to be in the spirit of Scottish music, even if it doesn't (and it doesn't) quote any actual Scottish folk tunes. Much has been made about the famous (some would say infamous) Scotch snapin the theme (at the end of the first phrase at the beginning of the 5th measure for instance) as proof that Mendelssohn used it intentionally in reference to Scotland. This is of no consequence, for the music is an example of a Mendelssohnian scherzo (although written in sonata form) that is fleet of foot and short in length that could have shown up in a different work. The scherzo ends with pizzicato strings that lead to the next movement. III. Adagio -A short introduction leads to a flowing first theme that is contrasted with a dark, powerful second theme that reaches a climax before it quiets down and a 3rd theme appears. The opening measures return, the second theme returns, followed by an expanded version of the first theme. The rumbling second theme grows to another climax, the 3rd theme is repeated. The first theme returns one last time to end the movement. IV. Allegro vivacissimo - Allegro maestoso assai -The finale begins with an agitated march, followed by the 2nd theme that is in the same mood. A 3rd theme quietly appears in the oboe. The first theme reappears and is developed with the other themes taking their turn in short sections. The first theme is played quietly and segues directly to a new majestic theme in A major. This theme is in such contrast to what has gone before that some have called it misplaced. But by the nature of the theme (which some have called Germanic, whatever the hell that means) Mendelssohn may have been in a quandary how to end the work on a positive note with what had gone on before in the movement.
Aside from all that has been written about the work and its connections to Scotland, the 3rd Symphony is a masterpiece, and would be so if it had no nickname at all.
Francis Bacon, 17th century English statesman, scientist, jurist, orator, author and philosopher wrote in his essay titled Of Studies:
To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humor of a scholar. They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning, by study...
Natural ability such as Mozart and Mendelssohn possessed only became mastery after much work, study and diligence. For Mozart, it was his good fortune to be born into a family with a father that was a consummate musician and teacher who was wise enough to know the wisdom of Bacon's words. The young Mozart did his share of necessary exercises in harmony and counterpoint, the pruning of his natural abilities.
Mendelssohn's situation was a different matter. His family was headed by a father who was a banker and a mother who was from a prominent family. Felix's talent was noticed by his parents and other members of the family. Felix's family could afford private music teachers, and the youngster also had the added benefit of having his early works played by a small orchestra that gathered at the Mendelssohn family home. Thus Bacon's words rang true for Felix as well, including the tempering of study by experience.
When Mendelssohn was twelve years old he began to write a series of symphonies for string orchestra as exercises in composition for his teacher Carl Friedrich Zelter, and for performance at the concerts at his home. He wrote a total of twelve string symphonies in two years. The first six string symphonies had three movements, but with the String Symphony No. 7 the movements increased to four. I. Allegro -Written in sonata form, themovement begins straight away with the first theme that is reminiscent of C.P.E. Bach's angular themes. Perhaps C.P.E.Bach was a strong influence as Felix's great-aunt Sarah Itzig-Levy took keyboard lessons from Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and premiered some of C.P.E. Bach's harpsichord music. She was a wealthy woman and helped to support the widow of C.P.E. Bach and took a special interest in Felix's musical education. The second theme is more lyrical, and soon succumbs to the return of the first theme. The exposition is repeated. The development section begins with a working out of the second theme while a figuration from the first theme accompanies, until the first theme gains dominance and goes through its own section of being worked through. The recapitulation repeats with modulations of themes until a short coda is reached that introduces a new figure and a very short section of syncopation until a fragment of the first theme leads to the end of the movement - a D major chord. II. Andante amorevole -Written in D major, the theme winds its way casually through the movement. The pace remains a leisurely walk with hardly any drama. The short movement ends in D major. III. Menuetto -Mendelssohn returns to D minor for the minuet that is in the spirit of a Haydn peasant stomp. The trio section is in B-flat major. The minuet is not repeated after the trio. There is a short coda that follows the trio that focuses on material heard in the trio with not a trace of the music of the minuet, and the movement ends in B-flat major. IV. Allegro molto -An early example of the quick tempo music that shows up in Mendelssohn's music. It is a foreshadowing of the tarantella of the 4th Symphony written years later. A fugal section follows, and the pattern is repeated until the opening music returns and leads to a short coda that ends the work.
Felix Mendelssohn and his older sister Fanny were both musically gifted. Fanny was a musical child prodigy like her brother and a composer in her own right. She wrote over 400 works but the prevailing attitude of the time towards women precluded any thought of publishing her works. When Fanny died of complications from a stroke in May of 1847, Felix was distraught. He not only lost a sibling that he was very close to, but a trusted critic and colleague. He composed a string quartet in her memory and titled it Requiem For Fanny.
A long time friend of Mendelssohn said of the quartet:
It would be difficult to cite any piece of music which so completely impresses the listener with a sensation of gloomy foreboding, of anguish of mind, and of the most poetic melancholy, as does this masterly and eloquent composition.
Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel
The months after Fanny's death had Mendelssohn in a mood that he called "gray upon gray." The string quartet had a private performance in October of 1847 with Felix's teacher and friend Ignaz Moscheles present. He said of the quartet:
The impassioned character of the whole seems to me to be in keeping with his present frame of mind, shaken as he is to the heart's core by the loss of his sister.
The composition of this string quartet was a portent of Felix's own fate. It was the last major work he was to write, as six months after his sister's death Felix died of a stroke. The String Quartet No. 6 In F Minor Opus 80 is in 4 movements:
I. Allegro vivace assai -The quartet begins with nervous energy and feeling of foreboding in the first theme. The second theme doesn't lessen the anxiety as much as it puts it slightly in the background. The development section expands the themes and fleshes them out with occasional counterpoint, but the drive of the movement doesn't slacken. The recapitulation of the slightly altered themes bring a sense of even more instability. A coda increases the tempo and passion and the movement ends in the minor mode.
II. Allegro assai -A scherzo that is far removed from the quicksilver ones Mendelssohn was known for. This one continues the agitation of the first movement as well as the key of F minor. The trio begins with the cello and viola with an eerie figure low in each instrument's register. The violins enter to this accompaniment and the music conjurs up visions of a spectre. The scherzo is repeated, the trio makes another abbreviated appearance and the movement ends.
III. Adagio -The only movement out of the 4 that is in a major key, this is a song without words, a love song for his departed sister. There is a short section where passion rises slightly, but the music returns back to the love song that makes its way to a peaceful ending.
IV. Finale: Allegro molto -The turmoil of the first two movements returns in the finale. There are brief respites with short lyrical sections, but the movement is mostly in a panic throughout. Sharp accents and dissonance pepper the movement, along with disquieting sections of reduced dynamics that do nothing to quell the tension. A violin takes off in passioned flight near the end of the movement which leads to a quickening of the pace and the bitter end of the quartet.
The Hebrides are made up of a group of islands off the west coast of Scotland, some of which have a long history of human habitation that goes back to 6500 BCE. The islands have been further divided into two areas; the Outer Hebrides and the Inner Hebrides. Felix Mendelssohn toured the area in 1829 and while in the Inner Hebrides group he visited the uninhabited island of Staffa where the famous tourist attraction Fingal's Cave is located. Staffa is noted for its hexagonal columns of basalt that form the island and the opening to the cave. The cave has a naturally formed arched ceiling and is known for its bizarre echoing effects caused by the waves of the ocean. The cave has been known for centuries, but came to be called Fingal's Cave after the hero of an 18th-century epic poem by James McPherson.
Fingal's Cave
Mendelssohn was inspired by the sounds of the echoing waves in the cave and wrote down his first sketches for the overture shortly after he visited the cave and sent them in a letter to his sister Fanny. Mendelssohn completed the overture in 1830 and originally called it The Lonely Island, but he revised the score in 1832 and renamed it The Hebrides. The overture was first performed in London in 1832.
The overture begins with a theme that Warner Brothers cartoon aficionados will recognize, for it was used in their cartoon of 1943 titled 'Inki and The Myna Bird', a cartoon that has not withstood the test of time because of its racial political incorrectness. There is a Myna bird that appears throughout the cartoon and every time it does, this theme accompanies it. It wasn't the first time Warner Brothers, Walt Disney and other animators used parts of classical music pieces for a cartoon. If nothing else, the music was free to use as it was in the public domain.
This first theme was inspired by Mendelssohn's visit to the cave, the sketch he sent to his sister Fanny. It is in B minor and begins in the low pitched instruments of the orchestra and swells up into the higher pitched instruments in imitation of the swells and waves of the sea. The second theme is in a major key and also begins with the low pitched instruments and is more expansive in nature. These two themes comprise the basic elements of the overture. Mendelssohn transforms them and modifies them in various ways as he works towards the coda which develops the opening theme until a climax is reached. The clarinet states the first theme once more in muted dynamics, the flute echoes the clarinet in a short fragment and the work ends.
The Polish piano vistuoso and composer Fryderyk Chopin was notorious in his negativity towards other composers. Chopin had formed his artistic aesthetic early on, so it's no wonder that his opinions about others who did not share his views were disparaging. One of the composers that met with his admiration was Felix Mendelssohn. Chopin had traveled to Berlin in 1828 to hear him play, but was too shy to introduce himself. When Chopin had his first public recital in Paris in 1832, Liszt and Mendelssohn both attended. Chopin made a strong impression on Mendelssohn. They met, became friends and stayed in contact for the rest of Chopin's life.
The two composers were only a year apart in age, and both of them had the distinction of maturing as a composer while still in their teen years. Mendelssohn especially matured early on, as two of his most popular compositions, the String Octet and Overture To A Midsummer Night's Dream were both written by the time he was seventeen. They both admired J.S.Bach's music as Chopin played Bach extensively and used the preludes and fugues of The Well Tempered Clavier to keep his fingers limber before recitals. Mendelssohn was a key figure in the revival of Bach's music as he arranged and conducted the St. Matthew Passion in 1829. The two had a certain classisism as part of their artistic makeup, although it took a different course in each other's work.
There was a composer that also had an influence on both Chopin and Mendelssohn, Carl Maria von Weber. Specifically, it was Weber's Konzertstück For Piano that served as a model for Mendelssohn's works for piano and orchestra. This can be seen in the structure of Mendelssohn's Capriccio Brilliant For Piano and Orchestra. Mendelssohn's work begins with an introduction played andante, that is similar in structure and feeling to the beginning of Weber's Konzertstück. From theintroduction the music segues into the music at a faster tempo and more dramatic in nature, the beginning of the first theme. This first theme is expanded upon with a few different motifs thrown in for good measure until there is a slight slowing of the tempo which signals the opening of the second theme which is first played by the orchestra. This second theme has a resemblance to the march section of Weber's work. The development section follows, and the recapitulation begins with the first theme followed by the second theme which is transformed to the minor mode and ends the work.
In 1845 Chopin told Mendelssohn in a letter:
“Let me remind you that even if you do possess friends and admirers worthier and closer to you, none is more sincere than I.”
Sadly, both composers also shared an early death. Mendelssohn in 1847 of a stroke when he was 38 years old, Chopin in 1849 of tuberculosis when he was 39 years old. While Chopin's music never really went out of fashion, Mendelssohn's did. Mendelssohn was never a part of the 'New Music' movement of Wagner and Liszt and that Nazi Germany banned his music because of his Jewish heritage didn't do his reputation any good. There has been a revival and reevaluation of Mendelssohn and he is now regarded as a great Romantic Era composers.
In a review in 1840 of Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 1, Robert Schumann wrote:
The storm of recent years is finally beginning to abate, and we must admit that it has washed several pearls ashore. Mendelssohn, as one of the many sons of this age, must have had to struggle with and often listen to the insipid declaration of some ignorant critics that ‘the true golden age of music is behind us’ – although it probably affected him less – and has so distinguished himself that we may well say: He is the Mozart of the 19th century, the most brilliant of musicians, the one who most clearly perceives the contradictions of the age, and the first to reconcile them.
Despite Schumann's praise, the very qualities that caused Schumann to praise the music were later looked upon as faults. Mendelssohn's mastery of sonata form was looked upon as old-fashioned and conservative, the nimbleness of his scherzos were deemed emotionally lacking, the lyrical turn of his tunes were regarded as too unemotional. Richard Wagner was one of the main players in the smear campaign when he wrote his pamphlet Jewishness In Music in which his disgusting antisemitism sneers and takes cheap shots at Jewish composers, namely Meyerbeer and Mendelssohn (a pamphlet by the way, that Wagner used a pseudonym for). And as if all this was not enough, the filth of the Nazi regime in Germany labeled Mendelssohn's music as degenerate Jewish music.
Watercolor by Mendelssohn
No doubt some of the invective against Mendelssohn was due to his staggering talent as well as his being born into a family that was very well off financially. By some contemporary accounts, Mendelssohn had some of the trappings of personality that economic and social privilege can bring, such as aloofness and class consciousness. He was also afflicted with a terrible temper when he did not get his way.
But Mendelssohn's music has gone through a rehabilitation of sorts. He is now acknowledged as an inspired composer, conductor, pianist, and one of the greatest musical prodigies of any era.
The Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor is written for the standard grouping of cello, violin and piano. The Piano Trio is one of his most popular chamber music pieces, along with his Octet for Strings. The Trio is in 4 movements:
I. Molto allegro ed agitato -The cello begins the movement with the first theme, a lyrical tune that Mendelssohn changes as he repeats it as it leads to the second theme in A major that also begins with the cello. The movement is in sonata form, but the skill of Mendelssohn makes the music seem like one long flowing melody. After the development and recapitulation, the music gains in drama (mostly from the florid piano part) as the first theme makes one last appearance as the movement rushes to a close.
II. Andante con moto tranquillo -The music of the second movement begins with a solo for piano of the main theme. All the instruments join for a repeat and expansion of the theme. A slightly agitated middle section is in contrast to the preceding. The main theme returns and the music slows to a quiet close.
III. Scherzo: Leggiero e vivace - A light, agile scherzo, music that Mendelssohn was known for.
IV. Finale: Allegro assai appassionato - A return to D minor, the main theme is in the same general mood as the first movement. The piano especially has a lot to do in this movement. Contrasting material interrupts the main theme's progress a few times, but the main theme is persistent and keeps returning until it is transformed to the key of D major as the movement speeds towards the end.
