Poor Mendelssohn... So much misfortune in one year, which eventually ends with his own death... Yet, his legacy is immense, for example this work... I find it comforting that we are, instead, so fortunate to have the privilege to listen to this music by him and other composers! All thanks to their industriousness and passion to express music in its highest dignity... Thank you
Mendelssohn is one of the most underated composers ever. His ability to craft natural melodies is almost unrivalled in classical music. Here his sorrow elevated the depth of his work to a new level unseen before. A truly remarkable man
johannsebastienbach this is so different from what we usually hear from this composer. Most of his chamber music is of a limpid, classical inspiration; this present quartet takes as its point of departure the great "Quartetto Serioso" op. 95 of Beethoven, also in the sombre tonality of F minor.
@@saltag Again, not underrated. An underrated composer is one that has written great works but barely anyone knows and appreciates. Like Mendelssohn, Schumann is one of the most highly regarded composers of all time. In no way is he underrated.
Absolutely spot on. I just wonder how many of the 200k odd views bothered, as it appears that only a handful of us agree with you. I certainly learnt something. Great comment.
Such a wonderful quartet - thank you for choosing the Emerson - they have such a raw and honest sound. Mendelssohn's quartets are some of my favorite works of music. Thank you!
The first twelve minutes seem to be lively chorales, tuttis and accompaniments showcasing a solo violin. I'm used to seeing more internal motion and voice interplay in Mendelssohn. It's not til the Adagio at 11:55 that I see his characteristic style. Not a bad thing. Just observing.
Generally speaking, Mendelssohn always gives a lot of importance to the first violin, as a way to make a very compact speech using a guide like reference. This is very obvious in the string octet, and it's a very ingenious move that provides order to such a difficult agrupation as an octet. This is my opinion as a violinist 🙃
Sin lugar a duda un compositor infravalorado...….pues realmente se merece mucho mas gran inductor de armonbias muycoherentes q luego no han sabido otros llevar mas all………………….
This is a revelation. Mendelssohn has always been for me the violin concerto and bits of St Paul but this really is a masterpiece of white-hot inspiration from beginning to end. No schmalz here! Wow! Beautiful performance too: passionate but never aggressive.
thenameisgsarci I personally really dislike this version. I find that the Emerson String Quartet is pretty on point with their interpretations but their recording of this quartet just seems to lack a sense of authenticity (almost as if a lot of places don't receive the phrasing they deserve, more time needs to be taken in spots, it's just lacking a bit of passion and emotional involvement in my taste). However, thanks so much for your upload!
You always post great pieces and fantastic reviews/listening notes. I'd heard this one once before but didn't know the background. I always come away from your vids feeling enriched. *****
In -order of composition- I think it's at least his 7th, as there's an entire unnumbered quartet in E-flat that precedes both Op.12 and 13 (no relation to the movements Op.81). Fairly sure that in order of publication though it -was- his 6th quartet (opp. 12, 13 in some order, followed by the 3 of op.44, then Op.80) but I may be mistaken) and of the 6 acknowledged quartets it's the 6th in order of composition iirc, so... but that's a lot of space on a minor point. (And as the most common editions are from iirc 1850? and the 1880s - the Dover is a reprint of the latter and has no copyright status whatever they may claim, afaik - it's the _recording's_ copyright status about which you are of course right- unless you're using a very interestingly edited modern edition, or something...)
(sometimes interesting how many works in major genres by major composers have to wait a century before publication- Dvorak's and Mendelssohn's earliest symphonies and quartets (both), for example.)
I can assure you it's not blocked, as far as I can see. You might need to restart your internet, reload the page, update the app, or restart the phone. Hope those work. :)
At 7:40, in the first measure of the second first violin line of the allegro assai, the score doesn't match what's being played. It seems that the notes in the entire masure and the first beat of the next are one third below what they should be. And then at 8:21, there is an F natural written where an E flat is played.
his quartets were composed in 1823 or so? (un-numbered quartet in E-flat), Op.13 (1827), Op.12 (1829), Op.44/2 (1837), Op.44/1 and Op.44/3 (1838) and then Op.80 (1847). So it's his last quartet, but his 7th of 7. It is his 6th in order of publication, however, however, having been first published in 1850- just as his "first" quartet, Op.12, was (first) published before, though it was written after, his 2nd quartet; the usual ordering is, as very often with these things, order of publication. So s/composition/publication/ in what you wrote :)
Slightly confused about this work and it's timing. It's listed as Op 80 and written in 1947 the year of Mendelssohn's death, so the synopsis above makes sense. But what doesn't is that Mendelssohn's Opus numbers run to 121. The last being a piece for Male Choir and Cello written in 1833. How is that possible? I have always believed that Opus numbers are used in the order in which they are composed.
When Mendelssohn tries to be angry it only sounds cute! He is incapable of wrath. I do not doubt he was depressed...but he is not capable of self absorbed angst, like say, Mahler.
@@thenameisgsarci you conflate two entirely separate things! I never even implied what you say...I stand by my view that Mendelssohn is incapable of expressing wrath in music....he was so genteel, I doubt he experienced wrath.
Not all of Mendelssohn's biographers simply assume that this is some sort of funeral song for his sister (and an odd sort of funeral song it would be. Though it is true that the second movement was one of the first things that came to his mind, and I will readily agree myself there is an element of Dance of Death about it, starting with the unusual syncopations and rhythms - not funereal in the slow-march sense but belonging to an older tradition that he would have been familiar with.) (And I find the ends of the first and last movements driven and almost furious in some performances. So maybe I, too, read too much into it - or those performers do.)
Poor Mendelssohn... So much misfortune in one year, which eventually ends with his own death... Yet, his legacy is immense, for example this work... I find it comforting that we are, instead, so fortunate to have the privilege to listen to this music by him and other composers! All thanks to their industriousness and passion to express music in its highest dignity... Thank you
Mendelssohn is one of the most underated composers ever. His ability to craft natural melodies is almost unrivalled in classical music. Here his sorrow elevated the depth of his work to a new level unseen before. A truly remarkable man
johannsebastienbach this is so different from what we usually hear from this composer. Most of his chamber music is of a limpid, classical inspiration; this present quartet takes as its point of departure the great "Quartetto Serioso" op. 95 of Beethoven, also in the sombre tonality of F minor.
How is he underrated? What a silly bizarre comment. He’s one of the most famous composers of the early Romantic.
He's never been underrated - ever. Mendelssohn has always been up there with the greatest of composers.
"underrated" is an understatement... If someone is underrated it's Schumann
@@saltag Again, not underrated. An underrated composer is one that has written great works but barely anyone knows and appreciates. Like Mendelssohn, Schumann is one of the most highly regarded composers of all time. In no way is he underrated.
00:00 I. Allegro vivace assai
07:30 II. Allegro assai
11:58 III. Adagio
18:38 IV. Finale: Allegro molto
40:00 V. Darudo Sandstormo
Thank You for this!
Oh wow
This has to be one of the most complex and diverse quartet pieces ever composed. Movement II is my favorite. Love Mendelssohn’s works!
That award easily goes to Ravel or Debussy or Grieg. This quartet is good. But any of those other quartets top it.
@@jacobbass6437 I do not think so, mendelssohn is so underrated, but his chamber music is the best in my opinion, not even schubert tops it.
@@aarondrayer548 agreed
if anyone hasn't read the description to this video, you're really missing the full experience!
I'll definitely agree with you.
Absolutely spot on. I just wonder how many of the 200k odd views bothered, as it appears that only a handful of us agree with you. I certainly learnt something. Great comment.
Wow. Brilliant performance. The agonising sadness, the heartbreak, in this quartet leave one devastated.
Mvmt II - 7:28
Mvmt III - 11:54
Mvmt IV - 18:37
Ok and how am I meant to find the first movement smh 🙄
@@oldbird4601 You need to have a brain
Such a wonderful quartet - thank you for choosing the Emerson - they have such a raw and honest sound. Mendelssohn's quartets are some of my favorite works of music. Thank you!
My favorite chamber music from my favorite composer.
The first twelve minutes seem to be lively chorales, tuttis and accompaniments showcasing a solo violin. I'm used to seeing more internal motion and voice interplay in Mendelssohn. It's not til the Adagio at 11:55 that I see his characteristic style. Not a bad thing. Just observing.
Generally speaking, Mendelssohn always gives a lot of importance to the first violin, as a way to make a very compact speech using a guide like reference. This is very obvious in the string octet, and it's a very ingenious move that provides order to such a difficult agrupation as an octet. This is my opinion as a violinist 🙃
This was a masterpiece dedicated to his late sister Fanny...
amazing what grief does to creativity
One of my Favorit Mendelssohn Quartets, love his chamber music
Mvt 2 is a banger
Sin lugar a duda un compositor infravalorado...….pues realmente se merece mucho mas gran inductor de armonbias muycoherentes q luego no han sabido otros llevar mas all………………….
What a mind boggling piece of music. And to think Mendelssohn was accused of never inventing anything new.
I find the 3rd mvt. to be the most sad even though it is the only one in a major key - just goes to show nothing in music is as simple as it seems.
This is a revelation. Mendelssohn has always been for me the violin concerto and bits of St Paul but this really is a masterpiece of white-hot inspiration from beginning to end. No schmalz here! Wow! Beautiful performance too: passionate but never aggressive.
I'm glad you liked it -- I was actually worried about the choice of performance for this video.
i find it the best! definitely a good choice
thenameisgsarci I personally really dislike this version. I find that the Emerson String Quartet is pretty on point with their interpretations but their recording of this quartet just seems to lack a sense of authenticity (almost as if a lot of places don't receive the phrasing they deserve, more time needs to be taken in spots, it's just lacking a bit of passion and emotional involvement in my taste). However, thanks so much for your upload!
+mprz052
OK, sure thing, not a problem, you're welcome.
*on the inside: :'(*
Thats just jibber jabber from beginning to end. I assume you are in a string quartet yourself. Or not.
You always post great pieces and fantastic reviews/listening notes. I'd heard this one once before but didn't know the background. I always come away from your vids feeling enriched. *****
Awww... 😍
loved the 1st mvt! played the piece at my high school music competition
Listen to the op. 44's if you have yet to do so!
Amazing. Great. What a fantastic music !
Thanks for uploading!
Meraviglioso e straziante...
Desde o famoso tremolo de Schubert os compositores românticos adotaram esse expressivo efeito.
감사합니다
Thank you Gsarci
yo finale goes hard
7:00 the brutal presto coda reminds me of the coda of the last movement of Beethoven's Appassionata.
11:58
Imagine How A Woman Feels
Hey Gorg
*Imagine how soft and warm her skin feels...*
LOURD
This proves that simple songs can sound beautiful as well (im looking at yall, ben lee, vov Dylan)
The first movement alone is worth Schubert’s 4th Symphony!
Hey!
Actually Mendelssohn is leaning heavily on Schubert's 12th quartet.
No, it's leaning to Beethoven"s "serioso quartet"
"The first movement alone is worth Schubert’s 4th Symphony!"... Excuse me?
In -order of composition- I think it's at least his 7th, as there's an entire unnumbered quartet in E-flat that precedes both Op.12 and 13 (no relation to the movements Op.81). Fairly sure that in order of publication though it -was- his 6th quartet (opp. 12, 13 in some order, followed by the 3 of op.44, then Op.80) but I may be mistaken) and of the 6 acknowledged quartets it's the 6th in order of composition iirc, so... but that's a lot of space on a minor point. (And as the most common editions are from iirc 1850? and the 1880s - the Dover is a reprint of the latter and has no copyright status whatever they may claim, afaik - it's the _recording's_ copyright status about which you are of course right- unless you're using a very interestingly edited modern edition, or something...)
(sometimes interesting how many works in major genres by major composers have to wait a century before publication- Dvorak's and Mendelssohn's earliest symphonies and quartets (both), for example.)
19:34
I liked the description. But that about Schumann ... girl i dont know, you know?
Not even brahms can get this close to naturalness in form.
Video is once again unavailable for me...
Tal Dobrer i cant watch this video too(
I can assure you it's not blocked, as far as I can see. You might need to restart your internet, reload the page, update the app, or restart the phone. Hope those work. :)
At 7:40, in the first measure of the second first violin line of the allegro assai, the score doesn't match what's being played. It seems that the notes in the entire masure and the first beat of the next are one third below what they should be.
And then at 8:21, there is an F natural written where an E flat is played.
It's because the bottom line of the staff is not there. Just imagine there's one more line and the notes will be right!
1:08
his quartets were composed in 1823 or so? (un-numbered quartet in E-flat), Op.13 (1827), Op.12 (1829), Op.44/2 (1837), Op.44/1 and Op.44/3 (1838) and then Op.80 (1847). So it's his last quartet, but his 7th of 7. It is his 6th in order of publication, however, however, having been first published in 1850- just as his "first" quartet, Op.12, was (first) published before, though it was written after, his 2nd quartet; the usual ordering is, as very often with these things, order of publication. So s/composition/publication/ in what you wrote :)
18:37 IV movement
Wow goddamn
Slightly confused about this work and it's timing. It's listed as Op 80 and written in 1947 the year of Mendelssohn's death, so the synopsis above makes sense. But what doesn't is that Mendelssohn's Opus numbers run to 121. The last being a piece for Male Choir and Cello written in 1833. How is that possible? I have always believed that Opus numbers are used in the order in which they are composed.
Felix’ works past op. something are posthumous publications.
also, published, not composed.
generally they were assigned by publishers (which led to Mozart having eg two op.2s and is one reason we use K.#s...) - until recently...
Oh wow ok I see you.., trying to trick me in some notes...
00:00
Am I the only one who hears schubert in this quarter?
7.30
This piece is incredible! Inspired me to write my own string quartet: th-cam.com/video/LlarRvohpI0/w-d-xo.html
When Mendelssohn tries to be angry it only sounds cute! He is incapable of wrath. I do not doubt he was depressed...but he is not capable of self absorbed angst, like say, Mahler.
I cannot believe this sounds just cute to someone. But I guess it's subjective opinion.
Yes, opinions indeed, but same thing here. There's nothing cute about being depressed after losing one's sister.
@@thenameisgsarci you conflate two entirely separate things! I never even implied what you say...I stand by my view that Mendelssohn is incapable of expressing wrath in music....he was so genteel, I doubt he experienced wrath.
Music is not a direct-to-paper means of expressing emotion, end of story, we've now said all that needs to be said -- for starters...
Not all of Mendelssohn's biographers simply assume that this is some sort of funeral song for his sister (and an odd sort of funeral song it would be. Though it is true that the second movement was one of the first things that came to his mind, and I will readily agree myself there is an element of Dance of Death about it, starting with the unusual syncopations and rhythms - not funereal in the slow-march sense but belonging to an older tradition that he would have been familiar with.) (And I find the ends of the first and last movements driven and almost furious in some performances. So maybe I, too, read too much into it - or those performers do.)
post your pseudo intellectual comment here:
I like trees
I LIKE TRAINS.
Well written, harmonically predictable..
6:30
3:28
4:02
2:50