Sunday, July 14, 2019

Welcome to the course "The Music of Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847)"


 
Felix Mendelssohn & his sister Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel

Documentary:  The Birth of British Music: Felix Mendelssohn  (1 hour) 


               Enhance your appreciation of the music of  Felix Mendelssohn, one of the most 
        important composers of the early Romantic era and one of the first Jewish composers  
        of wide renown.  A child prodigy, several of his teenage compositions are still in the
        repertoire.  In his short 38 year life, Mendelssohn produced many popular works in 
        all genres except opera.  His older sister Fanny was also a talented composer. 


Day 1

        Introduction:  Felix Mendelssohn Biography        A list of Mendelssohn's compositions
  

  Symphonies (order of composition: No. 1, No. 5., No. 4, No, 2, No. 3):

        Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56 "Scottish" (begun 1829, premiered 1842)

                 Frankfort Radio Symphony Orchestra, Andres Orazco-Estrada, cond.  (44 min)  Play 

               Mendelssohn wrote this symphony over a 13 year period and it was the last one he finished.  It is his 
               second most popular symphony.

        Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90 "Italian" (premiered 1833, rev. 1834)

                 Frankfort Radio Symphony OrchestraPaavo Järvi, cond.  (31 min)  Play

               Mendelssohn's most popular symphony.  He completed most of it on a trip to Italy and said it was "the
               jolliest thing I have ever done, especially the last movement."  It sounds like a cross between a Mozart 
               Symphony and a Beethoven symphony with distinctive Mendelssohn sounds.

        Symphony No. 5 in D major/minor, Op. 107 "Reformation" (1830, premiered 1832)

                 Frankfort Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jereme Rhorer, cond.  (35 min)  Play

               Actually, Mendelssohn's 2nd symphony, he was never really satisfied with it and it wasn't 
               published until after his death.  It is fairly popular today.


  Overtures and Incidental Music:

        Overture & Incidental Music to Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", opp. 21, 61                                                                                                (overture 1826, full score 1842)

                 Frankfort Radio Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Järvi, cond.  (50 min)  Play

               Mendelssohn wrote the well known overture when he was seventeen.  The incidental music for the play 
               was written at age 33 six years before his death.  The incidental music has the famous "Wedding March".  
               While romantic in its sound, it is classical in its structure.

        The Hebrides (Overture) in B minor for orchestra (a.k.a. Fingal's Cave), op. 26  (1830, rev. 1832)

               London Symphony Orchestra, John Elliot Gardiner, cond.  (10 min)  Play


  Concertos:

         Violin Concerto No. 2 in E minor, Op. 64  (1844)   Joshua Bell, violin (28 min)  Play

               This is considered one of the five greatest violin concertos of all time.  It has many innovations, most
               notably the solo violin entering at the very beginning of the work and the three movements not being
               separated by a break.

         Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25  (1831)  Yuja Wang, piano (19 min)  Play

               Although not as famous as the violin concerto, this is an excellent concerto. Its first movement is one  
               of Mendelssohn's stormiest.  It shares the same two major innovations as the violin concerto.  
               Mendelssohn's second piano concerto isn't as highly regarded as this one.


Day 2

  Chamber Music:

        String Octet in E flat major, Op. 20  (1825 @ age 16)

                 Janine Jansen & Friends  (33 min)  Play

               This work for eight string players was composed when Mendelssohn was 15 attests to Mendelssohn  
               being the child genius that Mozart was.  it is one of the most popular chamber works of the 19th century.

        String Quartet No. 6  in F minor, Op. 80  (1847)  Schumann Quartet  (30 min)  Play  

               Written just a few months after his sister Fanny's death, it is the last major work Mendelssohn completed, 
               and his most popular string quartet.

        Cello Sonata No. 2 in D major, Op. 58  (1842-43)

                 Natalia Gutman, cello & Viacheslav Poprugin, piano  (25 min)  Play

               Although not considered a great cello sonata, it is very pleasurable to listen to. 

        Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49  (1839

                 Joshua Bell, violin, Misha Maisky, cello, Evgeny Kissin, piano  (31 min)  Play

              Mendelssohn's first piano trio is among the very best of the Romantic era.  His second, although not 
              as popular, is also very good.


  Solo Piano Music:

          Variations Sérieuses  (1841)   Leonardo Colafelice, piano  (13 min)  Play

          Songs Without Words (Lieder ohne Worte (1829 - 1845)

               Selections - live video -  Viktoria Postnikova, piano  (20 min)  Play

               Complete - audio only -  Daniel Barenboim, piano  (2 hours, 12 min)  Play

              Composed throughout his career, these highly romantic works in song format are his most popular 
              solo piano works.  


  Vocal Music:

          Elijah (German: Elias) Op. 70  oratorio (1846)  

                 Orchestre National de FranceDaniele Gatti, cond.  (2 hr, 12 min)  Play

                 In 1829 Mendelssohn had organized the first performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion since the 
                 composer's death in 1750 and was instrumental in bringing this and other Bach works to widespread 
                 popularity.  Elijah pays tribute to the music of Bach and Handel but also infuses his own romanticism 
                 into the work.  

                 Elijah easily places in the top ten romantic choral works of the 19th century. Unlike Liszt's oratorio 
                 Christus, this work about the Old Testment prophet fits with both Mendelssohn's Jewish roots and 
                 his family's conversion to Christianity.





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