Felix Mendelssohn - String Octet in E flat major, Op. 20
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 พ.ค. 2024
- - Composer: Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 1809 -- 4 November 1847)
- Performers: Jascha Heifetz (violin), Arnold Belnick (violin), Israel Baker (violin), Joseph Stepansky (violin), Gabor Rejto (cello), Virginia Majewski (viola), Gregor Piatigorsky (cello), William Primrose (viola)
- Year of recording: 1961
Octet for strings in E flat major, Op. 20, written in 1825.
00:00 - I. Allegro moderato ma con fuoco
12:48 - II. Andante
18:23 - III. Scherzo
22:41 - IV. Presto
Mendelssohn’s Octet in E-flat major was composed in the autumn of 1825 (completed on 15 October), when the composer was only 16. He wrote it as a birthday gift for his friend and violin teacher Eduard Rietz (born 17 October 1802); it was slightly revised in 1832 before the first public performance on 30 January 1836 at the Leipzig Gewandhaus. Conrad Wilson summarizes much of its reception ever since: “Its youthful verve, brilliance and perfection make it one of the miracles of nineteenth-century music.”
The piece is particularly significant in Mendelssohn's career as it was one of two singularly brilliant works considered to be a signpost of his genius in his teenage years. (The other work thus identified is the equally brilliant "Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream" from 1826, uploaded on this channel.) It was also the first string octet to be written as a true eight-part work and to this day remains the finest work in that form extant. It bridges the gap between Mendelssohn the chamber composer and Mendelssohn the symphonist in a particularly effective way.
The scherzo, later scored for orchestra as a replacement for the minuet in the composer’s First Symphony at its premiere, is believed to have been inspired by a section of Goethe’s Faust entitled “Walpurgis Night’s Dream.” Fragments of this movement recur in the finale, as a precursor to the “cyclic” technique employed by later 19th-century composers. The entire work is also notable for its extended use of counterpoint, with the finale, in particular, beginning with an eight-part fugato.
The original score is for a double string quartet with 4 violins and pairs of violas and cellos. Mendelssohn instructed on the public score, “This Octet must be played by all the instruments in symphonic orchestral style. Pianos and fortes must be strictly observed and more strongly emphasized than is usual in pieces of this character.”
The work has been compared to Louis Spohr’s 1823 Double Quartet No.1, Op. 65 in D minor, and stands out as one of the absolute highlights in the chamber music repertoire. - เพลง
![[TH] VCT Masters Shanghai Playoffs DAY 2 // PRX vs G2 | EDG vs TH](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/T5j2XVcDFs0/mqdefault.jpg)
at 9:50 I love how Mendelssohn just went "FEEL THE POWER OF FOUR OCTAVES AT ONCE" and it's absolutely wonderful
Tchaik 4 produces the same effect numerous times.
@@schwei56 "Tchaik 4" is really something one can't read. Is it so difficult to write the full name? and the piece? (4 is for quartet? and which one? or for 4th Symphony? what is it for?)
@@emilianoturazzi Is it so difficult not to criticize someone for using an abbreviation that is understandable by many musicians?
@@AC-xh3pn yes it is very difficult for several good reasons partly of which I exposed in my post. by the way:
1) I don't know any musician using such a silly abbreviation. I'm a profesional musician so you can imagine that I know hundreds of musicians...I made a google search and I've found only five occurences of it... - I wouldn't call it a wide spread expression among musicians - infact, quite the opposite, it's really amateurish maybe used only in anglosaxon countries - it is so unprofessional and unclear that I wasn't sure what it referred to... I had to check Tchaikovsky's catalogue for being sure he wasn't talking about a string quartet or a serenade or a string composition (since here we are talking about a string octet)
2) even if it was "understandable by many musicans" not all readers are musicians... so it is simply unclear.
3) infact it is used just to show (more or less consciously) a supposed uncommon knowldege or familiarity, the belonging to a supposed "inner circle" of "initiated people"...
How do 8 INSTRUMENTS keep in time during that? I’m assuming there is a conductor.
Me: My god the Presto is clean
Me: *checks description*
Yep,, Heifetz on violin
😂😂😂
Also William Primrose viola!
It's insane too cuz I know it's marked presto but this is still the fastest I think I've ever heard the finale... and yet it's also the cleanest?!? Heifetz was on a whole different plane from anyone else
was just about to shower but now i want to sit in my chair for another half hour
This is the Ultimate Mood and I am disappointed it has so few likes
He wrote this when he was 17.
What am I doing with my life?
+Yuanxin Liu Please don't feel sad, musical geniuses like this in history can be counted on perhaps 2 hands. Also, in the end it's not so much the early age at which a piece is written that determines its worth (though it is impressive of course), but the inherent musical quality that solidifies a composition as a masterwork through the ages.
+Yuanxin Liu Ha.. I know right. I'm trying composing and it's a bitch
+olla-vogala i adore your channel
+mcrettable Agreed. Composition is just plain terrible to get through. There are highs and lows. I find myself composing my first fugue after years of study, but having the formal composition training of Telemann: none whatsoever!
ClassicMusicVids Hey want to share compositions?
25:14 And He shall reign forever and ever!
I thought the same thing
omg I thought I was the only one
I just read about the piece and it actually says he quoted that specific part of that piece.
HAHAHAHHA
I always found it astonishing how the exposition has the feel of a small sonata form in itself.
"Main theme": 0:05
"Transition": 0:21
"Second theme": 0:41
"Development:" 1:08
"Recapitulation": 1:41
"Coda:" 2:41
It feels like we've heard an entire piece - and in fact we're only beginning! This fractal-like structure always impressed me.
Thanks for sharing your analysis and for the book marks.
❤😊
TH-cam literally recommend this after twosetviolin update their community tab!
Same
Same here!
10:29 Guess he really liked that melodic figure, it makes a comeback in the violin concerto
There's a few other spots in here that are in the violin concerto as well.
5:30 as well
1st mv 00:00
2st mv 12:50
3st mv 18:23
4st mv 22:42
Jeez, they really called in all the heavyweights for this one.
I too appreciate age of mythology!
Makes for an unreal recording. And you're not kidding.
Years of listening to this - probably going on a decade - and I didn't even realise Primrose was one of the violists! I'm still a bit behind on my knowledge of the big string players from the day, but even so, it's obvious they were all amazing instrumentalists, given the half hour of irrefutable evidence we have here.
Dang an actually good viola part 😭
theres a first time for everything ig 😭💀
Holberg suite is alright. Brandenburg 3 isn't bad either but everyone hates Brandenburg 3.
24:57 is sooo clean. King Heifetz
Edit: This is about the 100th time ive come back to this recording but I know I just love the harmonies Mendelssohn uses at the 20:54
Ikr I could never in a million years rapid fire that on a violin and make it sound good. piano? maybe. Violin? No way in hell.
26:54 is literally amazing
That whole part after 7:59 is also just breathtaking
An octet played this at my school. Ever since, I've gotten so interested in Mendelssohn. Like, man; he's a masterful musician.
+NotPhillip - Vietnamese Avocado Yes Mendelssohn is great! If you like this, check out Enescu's String Octet too.
That's got to be a really good octet!
yo bro
Mendelssohn is a master yet not appreciated for how great a master he is. Like Mozart, he makes it look easy. He is in the Pantheon.
@@ikmarchini Oh, I think we all know how great a master he was.
Jascha Heifetz on Violin, William Primrose on Viola and so on... absolutely best performers ever
Few things make me happier than the first movement.
He was the greatest teenage composer. This work is so perfect, that it could not be bettered by any other.
No he is not
He was rivaled by his equally if not more talented sister Franny. I am so envious of this musical family.
(cough) Mozart (cough)
Mendelssohn>mozart
@@generalgonzales8139 Mendelssohn only comes first alphabetically.
OH MY LORD THAT ENDING IS GLORIOUS!
I have no words to express my thoughts about that geniality and the power of human intelligence. Its marvellous and overwhelming.
sometimes.
The last movement is so fast
But every single notes is still clear omg
Heifetz you’re the legend
This is upsettingly skillful for that age. And 2 years after that the 2nd string quartet! What were they feeding him
It was during an era when the true life of the mind was truly free and couldn't be roped and chained for mere lucretive, societal or political ambitions
A lot of music from dead composers for sure
He was the grandson of Moses Mendelssohn, a very famous and influential eighteenth century philosopher. His family was very wealthy and influential, and had been patrons of JS Bach's sons. His first piano teacher at the age of six, Marie Bigot, was praised by both Beethoven and Haydn as being able to play their works better than they could. His first composition teacher, Zelter, was steeped in the same tradition that produced JS Bach, and he passed this influence onto Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn was also introduced to, and became friends with Goethe at the age of 11.
@@cminor3016 ah yes, 19th century Europe the land of the free. The same land that prohibited Felix's own sister from pursuing a career in composition because she was a woman...
0:05 Pure instrumentation layout heaven.
Its that warnth in the sound of the instruments that is so missing today with diigital sound painting.... Air always did a wonderful job for centuries.
All sound is still propagated through air, whether its source is digital or not. So I don't understand what you're saying really.
@@sandokanfirst2 especially in this case, where the music is being distributed digitally. 🤔
This has got to be one of the best pieces of classical music I've ever heard.
Bravissimo, young Felix! You still live.
7:38, 16:14, 20:14, 22:23, 22:43 - 23:21 are all my favourite parts
1st movement was my favorite music when I was an active musician (cello) in my teens, and I am not so sure it still isn't my favorite. Listen at 12:20 when the 2nd 1st violin comes in to double the 1st 1st an octave below. Sublime. Still rocks me 50 years later.
Thanks for pointing out that spot!!!
I absolutely love those octaves! Stupidly ear-wormish!
This is probably in my top five pieces of music at all.
And what are the others?
@@lordemsworth1194 Not entirely sure, coming back a couple years later. Schoenberg's First Quartet and Beethoven's Grosse Fuge are definitely up there (they're probably top three, at the moment - maybe with the rest of the 13th quartet added to the 1st quartet).
As for the rest? Beethoven 7, maybe? Midsummer Night's Dream Overture, perhaps. Mahler 6? I dunno, to be honest. It's a bit variable. Unsure whether this one would fit entirely in the top five anymore, though it certainly could.
Lol its impossible to tell my mental top ten changes like every week...but there are a few pieces like this one that always stand up there
Since the day i have heard it for the very first time, this piece has never ceased to amaze me. It is still one of my top favorite chamber music pieces, all formations included.
And for having listened to numerous interpretations, this one is unbeatable imho.
Bellissimo. Mendelsohn era un GRANDE. Peccato che si conosce poco
Hai ragione. Non e sconosciuto ma lui e uno dei grandi maestri, ala Mozart e Beethoven.
21:43 The legato/staccato part of the third movement caught my ear the very first time I heard the Octet. While I now enjoy the full Octet with its many musical gems within, I still find this part of it my favorite.
Mendelsohn ist sehr angenehm zu hören ,was aber nicht leicht zu spielen ,viele unterschätzen seine Musik ,es ist eine gewisse Hoffnung der Romantik oder Frieden mit sich selbst nach dem höchsten zu streben des Perfektionismus
The g was correct, it sounds normal... I wonder why Jason decided to vote hyuna out that round... Although she actually wasn't meant to play that g
Why is the first movement perfection? 😭😭😭 ❤️
Mendelssohnはドイツ最大のMeister
octetは名品
何回聴いても飽きない
20:27 Dolby Surround Sound😃🎶 in the 19th century!!
Bass: Am I a joke to you?
I think of Mendelssohn in two ways, first as the late spring and summer composer as much of his music (like the octet) reminds me of the lush green late springs and summers we have here in New England. The second way is as a king of the joyous romantic opening. While other composers know how to open a piece (Ludwig) if you look at his A Midsummer Night's Dream, Trio, Violin Concerto and the octet openings. Each throws the listener into it and gets them hooked in the best way possible.
I have gone to 3 symphony orchestra events and 2 of them play this. Loved it since the first time hearing it.
Sublime - I am speechless. I remember my mother playing this. Beautiful.
The Andante has some of the most beautiful and delicate interplay between different instruments I've seen in a chamber work. The way the rising and falling 8th notes superimpose the melody.... what a work lads!
A masterpiece! Wouldn't mind being a musical genius myself, but hey ho...
how he wrote this when he was 16 is beyond me. this is spectacular
Embrace this now; who knows how long this will last before it is abruptly taken from us by those who profit from the oversimplification of our lives♥️
So, no one was an impostor.
lmaooo
Thanks so much for posting this with background information, and best of all, the score! Wow. THIS is how to TH-cam. :-)
Without adds, would have been perfection.
And once again, "it's all about Heifetz". I don't think most people liked playing chamber music with him because he always hogged the spotlight. Not that that's a bad thing but it was inevitable. Artur Rubinstein and Heifetz parted ways 30+ years before either of them died in the 80s. The trio they had with Piatigorsky was very short-lived. Piatigorsky got along with them both individually but they couldn't hack it as a group, although during the time they were together they did a few dynamite recordings and Time-Life (I think?) filmed a documentary about them, which was really corny but the music naturally was amazing.
I look forward to seeing this performed for the first time tomorrow.
2:08 that violist
Ouch ahahah
The defining performance of a masterpiece'; the cohesive excitement and energy generated by this incomparable ensemble has never been matched.
I love listening to classical pieces because it's fun to interpret the way everything sounds as different emotions. Like how 3:10 sounds kind of playful to me-
JESUS! this is simply amazing! i want to play this, is so sad the fact that i cant. terrific melody, i love this so much, thx a lot for sharing ! this is an excellent work!
Don't know why but I just love how good the measure at 4:49 sounds.
If you'd like, I could tell you the two chords Mendelssohn uses in that measure
Ray Brown omg he plays that too doent he!??
It's the magic of the C flat! That flat 6th gives us that beautiful chord :) it's one of my favourite chords ever
It's the magic of the C flat! That flat 6th gives us that beautiful chord :) it's one of my favourite chords ever
What an amazing recording! So many musical superstars gathered together. This octet is surely the most perfect of Mendlessohns's string works.
+Mari Christian Yes I agree, it's such a great work, and the cast... it just doesn't get any better! Thank you for all your comments by the way Mari :)
Thank you for your remarkable recordings, olla-vogala.
+Mari Christian have you heard his 6th string quartet :D
Yes, I've heard them all. Do you have a favorite recording?
Mari Christian the video on youtube of the schumann quartet performance
Mendelssohn's unpolished works of his youth are in many respects better than the polished works of his mature period. They just have this spontaneity and unexpectedness that makes them stand out. I think Mendelssohn was an obsessive perfectionist and this actually harmed the quality of his work in the end.
Oca 2074 interesting. I always considered his early period (prior to Symphony 1) as a tribute to his Classical era predecessors. In many ways you can hear influences of the first Viennese school of composers (and of course Bach, whom Mendelssohn idolised).
22:42
I loved Heifetz, I'm sure he got first chair, I also like Piatigorsky. SO many greats in a masterpiece of chamber music, I love it
nothing will ever top this melody
24:54 i rlly love how he put a violin solo just to bring back the beginning of the 4th movement
I have LOVED this piece for decades. It's one of my favorite works by Felix. I adore the D minor trio his sister wrote but he gets credit for.
I felt a little sad when it ended... MAGNIFICENT!!!!
Octets are awesome.
I love how everyone is coming here after Twoset's video, while I remember coming here after looking up "sad violin tunes" a few years ago
Heard this at Lewes Chamber music Festival last week - blown away.
2nd movement: 12:50
3rd movement: 18:23
4th movement: 22:42
ⅰ 00:06 Allegro moderato ma con…
ⅱ 12:50 Andante
ⅲ 18:25 Scherzo
ⅳ 22:44 Presto
Who comes here after watching TwoSet’s classical music version of Among Us😂🤪
OH MY GOD
ME
oh wow you're fast :o
@@alvindaffaariarpan9790 notification gang yes
me too. I really like that octet and now i "liszt"en to this.
the first repetition is breathtaking !!
Mendelssohn (3 February 1809 - 4 November 1847) was 16 when he completed this octet on October 15, 1825.
No words. Just thank you!
Thank you for the excellent description
Beautiful! And fun.
Great recording, for 1961.
A very great work. This along with the Midsummer Nights music is probably his greatest. All written be for he was 20. Even in maturity he never surpassed these works.
you are missing out my friend.......
walex wetchina
Meaning?
The works of Mendelssohn's later years are just as exceptional.
walex wetchina
Other then the D minor trio and the violin concerto, what works are comparable in quality. Certainly not the retrograde symphonies nor the c class "Handel" oratorios.
Quartets 3-6 for starters. It all depends on how you approach it. What you call retrograde symphonies and secound rate handel oratorios I find to be excellent works.
You cant honestly think that of Elijah, can you? Think of the opening fugue. It is perfection in my opinion. An extremely powerful work on the whole.
Mendelssohn is so underrated
Amanda HE IS?????? Most people consider him as the "landscape artist" of music or the composer that clearly makes a story with his music.
AverageGirl
Yeah but you don't really hear a lot of people talk about him.
The reason is, that most people don't realise that these masterpieces were written in his teens. His first symphony was written at the age of 15: a seldom heard master-work.that can be compared with the 'Italian'. He also wrote wonderful concertos at the age of 14 -17.
the notorious antisemite Wagner famously remarked that Mendelssohn never reached the fame of Bach, Mozart, or Beethoven because of his Jewish faith
@@brianbernstein3826 even though he was raised in christianity and didn't actually have said jewish faith.
He always had another trick up his sleeve. Notice around 8:50 it sounds like he's out of steam, but at 9:20 the vamp begins leading into the series of frenzied scales, those leading into a restatement of the first theme, and also his masterful restraint in use of false cadences. Beethoven could have benefitted from lessons from this child prodigy!
I think you point out some nice moments but please don't try to demean Beethoven like that. It only makes you look uninformed and I'm sure Felix would have agreed.
@@lvbandmore Nah Mendy is better than Ludwig. Beethoven is good, no doubt, but I prefer Felix.
@@chai8941 lol, no.
@@MaestroTJS I mean it is their opinion-
Just fantastic!
The ending of the 1st movement features an incredible climax that comes close to some Beethoven chamber music works like climax of the 1st movement of the op. 74 string quartet
5:30 That's also in his violin concerto !
Playing this on Sunday. Suspect I’ll get to try both cello parts. Shout out for violin 4- some lovely moments, and viola 2, especially the end of the slow movt 😊❤
12:34 love that downward leap to a b flat actually sounds like the higher octave because of the overtones, it's so trippy, i could hear the downward leap and actually the higher octave (a step up from the a flat)
So true! It's the first time I check the score (never played this) and I had no idea it was a low B! Mendelssohn is just pure gold
yes i was surprised it was a low Bb when i saw it too@@marinuki667
Recent research by Nicolas Kitchen of the Borromeo Quartet reveals that a more mature Mendelssohn somewhat substantially edited the score before its final publication in 1832.
フランス近代音楽好きの私が、大好きなドイツ・ロマン派作品
I’m addicted to 4th movement.
Two Set fans are you all here?
3:35
12:12
12:30
25:41 25:53
26:19
27:04 **** that trill
27:49
What I find interesting about the Octet is that there are actually two different versions. I have heard the original, and as expected, I heard the climbing struggle that is here subsumed under the first ending of the repeat in the first movement, and it was followed by the repeat of the exposition. However, I was shocked to hear it again when we came to the end of the repeat. I was relieved to know that the figure would not originally have been left out if the performers elected not to take the repeat. This and similar cases of substantial material under the first ending fascinate me.
amazing
lmao so many people came from twoset's classical musician among us video
Que maravilla
It's a glowing work of true mature mastery, but it was written by a 16-year-old. I don't really understand how that's possible.
Primrose is my idol
So when I first learned this octet I feel like I'd only ever heard first violin taking the last E-flat right before the chords at the end of the first movement UP the octave--and while I know that's not what's in the score it feels like it makes sense to me just based on the line, as it's written feels almost anticlimactic. But.. now with it being easier to find so many different recordings I haven't found a single one that does that. Have I mandela'd myself on this one?
I'm not convinced by this audio it sounds as if tempo has been increased by a very small amount - the vibrato sounds too like much like a flutter which is the sort of thing you get when the speed isn't quite right. But I may be wrong
The hideous ads playing noise that is supposed to be music at the ends of each movement destroy the effect of Mendelssohn's sublime art. The effect is as if a vandal were to throw a pot of paint on a Botticelli. Whoever chooses the commercials, PLEASE! A LITTLE CONSIDERATION! NO SOUND ADS!
If you are on a desktop I would recommend an extension called Adblock. It stops ads from playing during the video.
Since the recording isn't theirs, the uploader has no power to remove these ads. However, I recommend that you install AdBlock Plus so that those annoying ads go away.
I love the fact the Mendelssohn copied part of Handal’s “messiah” in the last movement. It just shows that even the best are inspired by others.
l love Mendelssohn
This is off the hook!!! Ultimate high brow badassery.
Em 10,30 parece o tema tocado na cadenza do concerto pra violino.