MENDELSSOHN - Bis

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decidedly reminiscent of Beethoven’s Fifth (timpani, chromatic motion in the lower strings). With its fiery, urgent manner the finale (Allegro con fuoco) alludes to the first movement; its theme makes reference not only to the first movement but also, once again, to Mozart’s G minor Symphony (main theme of the finale). The un usual string writing attracts our attention: after a while a thematic pizzicato from the strings begins, but soon becomes the pic tur esque backdrop for a won der - ful clarinet mel ody. The development cul minates in a fugue – a archaic-sounding, highly suggestive device that Men delssohn was also to use in later works. A gran - diose C major stretta concludes a work that approach es the form and musical language of Viennese Clas sicism in a most remarkable way. The symphony was first heard at one of the Mendelssohn family’s famous Sun day concerts in Berlin. During his visit to England in 1829, Mendelssohn con - ducted the work in London: at that performance, however, he replaced the minuet with a rescored version of the scherzo from his Octet, Op. 20 [disc 8 track 4] – probably as a means of ‘refreshing’ the old symphony for the new performance. (After 1831 and on publication, however, he insisted vehemently on using the original minu et!) The concert was a great success: as a sign of his gratitude, Mendels sohn ded icated the symphony to the Philharmonic Society. The English music period ical The Har monicon wrote: ‘It is not venturing too far to assert, that his lat est labour, the sym phony of which we now speak, shews a genius for this species of com posi tion that is exceeded only by the three great writers [Haydn, Mozart, Beet hoven]; and it is a fair presumption, that, if he persevere in his pur - suit, he will in a few years be con sid ered as the fourth of that line.’ Creating numbered lists of this kind is of course often somewhat awkward, even in the cases where the purpose is strictly chronological. Mendelssohn’s ‘fourth’ symphony, for exam ple, is actually his third; it was completed before the work that, owing to its earlier date of publication, is known as ‘No. 3’. On the 16
other hand it is debatable whether can speak at all of the ‘completion’ of Sym - phony No. 4, which remained an unpublished ‘work in progress’ during Men dels - sohn’s lifetime. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, a journey to Italy – ‘the land where the lemons blossom’ (as Goethe expressed it in his famous Mignon-Lied), overflowing with testimonies from antiquity and the Renaissance – was an essen - tial part of any educated man’s career. Not least those pilgrimages that proved pro ductive in literary terms – undertaken by such figures as Winckel mann, Goethe and Herder – fuelled this urge to travel. It thus comes as no sur prise that in 1830, when Men delssohn set off for Italy via Weimar (where he visited his fatherly friend Goethe), he not only followed the tourist trail in order to become acquainted with a foreign country and long-gone epochs, but also kept his manu - script paper at the ready to preserve the impressions he received. As with the Third Symphony (the ‘Scottish’) and the concert overture The Hebri des, a music - al travelogue was planned. At first things went well: ‘The “Italian” symphony is making good progress’, Mendelssohn wrote in February 1831, and went on to predict: ‘It will be the hap - piest piece that I have written.’ Towards the end of a journey that lasted a year and a half, however, he laid the work aside in favour of other pieces. After re turn - ing home in the summer of 1832, awkward professional circumstances dis pelled any sunny moods. Mendelssohn’s hopes of succeeding his former teach er Carl Friedrich Zelter as director of the Berliner Sing akademie after the latter’s death in May 1832 came to nothing, not least as a consequence of anti-Semitism – even though Mendelssohn had scored triumphant success there in 1829 with the re - vival of Bach’s St Matthew Passion. In the creative crisis that followed, Men dels - sohn required an external impetus to persuade him to com plete his sketches. This came in November 1832 in the form of three commis sions from the Philhar mo nic 17
Page 1 and 2: MENDELSSOHN THE COMPLETE SYMPHONIES
Page 3 and 4: Disc 1 [67'09] 1 ‘Ruy Blas’ Ove
Page 5 and 6: Disc 2 9 10 11 12 13 VII. Chorus an
Page 7 and 8: Disc 4 [70'26] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Page 9 and 10: Disc 6 [58'41] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Page 11 and 12: Disc 8 [51'11] 1 2 3 Concerto in D
Page 13 and 14: Disc 10 [67'12] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Concert
Page 15: Disc 1 · Symphonies Nos 1 & 4; ‘
Page 19 and 20: el op ment, surprisingly, introduce
Page 21 and 22: Despite the positive reception it r
Page 23 and 24: per formed in the Thomaskirche in L
Page 25 and 26: Adagio religioso, im plying a mood
Page 27 and 28: set off for Scotland with his frien
Page 29 and 30: had been excommunicated in 1521 and
Page 31 and 32: Discs 4-7 · String Symphonies No o
Page 33 and 34: finale of this three-movement sym p
Page 35 and 36: The String Symphony No. 11 was comp
Page 37 and 38: ion nor mere mimic of earlier model
Page 39 and 40: work for piano four-hands and orche
Page 41 and 42: Breit kopf & Härtel: ‘I composed
Page 43 and 44: piano begins the slow introduction
Page 45 and 46: into each other, how ever, that the
Page 47 and 48: Born in Moscow, Lev Markiz began hi
Page 49 and 50: CD 1 · Symphonien Nr. 1 & Nr. 4;
Page 51 and 52: stel lung dieses „work in progres
Page 53 and 54: ehrung eine mediterran-klare Musik
Page 55 and 56: er regte, chromatische Streicherthe
Page 57 and 58: gesang für zwei Männerchöre und
Page 59 and 60: schon abgebrochen zu werden. Hatten
Page 61 and 62: Karl Klingemann nach Schottland auf
Page 63 and 64: gegen übertraten. (Der Verfasser w
Page 65 and 66: CD 4-7 · Streichersymphonien Kein
Page 67 and 68:
schnellen, rhythmisch vorantreibend
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kantablen Adagio, dem ein immer tur
Page 71 and 72:
Exotik und Aus gelassenheit des let
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„un voll kommene“ Fassung diese
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Worte. Das Fi nale ist ein feuriges
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Kom po nis ten der Preußischen Sta
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Stettin urauf ge führt). Dieses Ko
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Die Amsterdam Sinfonietta - 1988 al
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BBC Proms, wo er die Klavierkonzert
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con fuoco) se rat tache au premier
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ciety dont il avait été nommé me
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Ce ne pouvait être la quatrième S
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le « Comité des fêtes autour de
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cantate en neuf mouvements (nos 2
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Seigneur], les deux sopranos solos
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ture des Hébrides, op. 26. La Symp
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« style religieux » traditionnel
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l’occasion de rencontrer de grand
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un Presto où la vita lité est tri
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Menuet a perdu son air de cour et e
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ce « petit » concerto de Men dels
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Quoi que le manuscrit de ce mouve m
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piano, il lui manque beaucoup trop
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L’œuvre fut dédiée au pianiste
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La fondation de l’Orchestre philh
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Isabelle van Keulen a reçu ses pre
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1 4 Symphony No. 2, ‘Lobgesang’
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Der so viel Gutes tut, Who from our
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INSTRUMENTARIUM Violin Concerto in
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MENDELSSOHN - Bis

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