Felix Mendelssohn's underrated contribution to music history
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In his 2008 book “Everything is connected” pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim claims that “The beauty and perfection of his music is obvious and beyond all criticism, but the history of music would have developed in much the same way if Mendelssohn had not existed.” This video essay is an attempt to add some nuance to his comments.
Besides being the virtual inventor of a new musical genre such as the programatic overture, Felix Mendelssohn’s place in the history of music is solidified by his important contributions in the field of form. Through a series of examples ranging several genres, we hope to show some of the idiosyncratic properties of Mendelssohn’s recapitulations in sonata form.
Contrary to the classical paradigm, Mendelssohn’s recapitulations tend to be deemphasized and are usually modified in some important way. In some cases these occur over non-tonic harmonies. Others, contain new countermelodies that deemphasize the primary theme. Finally, others blur the boundary between the development and the recapitulation beyond recognition.
By exploring this peculiar procedure in Mendelssohn’s work we hope to propose new ways of listening to his music and to offer an alternative to the common characterization of him as “the most classical of the romantics.”
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Further reading:
Formaro, Antonio. “Mendelssohn y la recapitulación.” Revista del instituto de Investigación Musicológica “Carlos Vega” 23, no. 23 (2009): 255-73.
Rosen, Charles. The Romantic Generation. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995.
Todd, R. Larry. Mendelssohn: A Life in Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Performances:
Felix Mendelssohn - Hebrides Overture (Fingal's Cave), Op. 26 London Symphony Orchestra - Claudio Abbado.
Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony 1: Paavo Järvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.
Robert Schumann. Symphony no. 2 in C major, op. 61, Berliner Philharmoniker; George Szell, conductor. Recorded live in the Philharmonie, Berlin, 26 June 1969.
Felix Mendelssohn. Midsummer Night’s dream overture. London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado (2002).
Felix Mendelssohn - Ave Maria: Hervé Lamy (tenor), Johan Huys (organ), Ensemble Vocal de La Chapelle Royale (Paris), Collegium Vocale de Gand (Ghent), Conducted by Philippe Herreweghe. Recorded May 1984 in L'eglise des Carmes, Gand (Church of the Carmelites, Ghent, Belgium).
Felix Mendelssohn - Violin Concerto E Minor Op. 64, Violin: Hilary Hahn, Conductor : Paavo Jarvi, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Recorded: 11th June, 2012 at the Seoul Arts Centre Concert Hall, Korea.
Felix Mendelssohn - Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49. Performers: Beaux Arts Trio, Year of recording: 2004.
Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56 "Scottish" Composed: 1829 - 1842, Claudio Abbado, Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra.
Video made by MomentsMusicaux.
I beg you wholeheartedly, dont cease to upload this kind of videos
I agree!! It helps me understand better classical music as a jazz musician😊
The transition to the recap from his violin concerto will always be one of my favourite moments musicaux, it's so goood! Thank you
Thanks to you fellow creator! :)
I waited the entire video for a mention of the Scottish symphony and was not disappointed. Simply thank you. All the more for using Abbado's interpretation.
Mendelssohn has always been a major event in the history of my life, and whatever history my feeble compositions can have. But without him nothing would be the same.
Thanks for watching it in full. You can really get the point of his genius in form and continuity if you pay attention to every example. And Abbado really gets it in the recap. Listen to those celli soar.
Thank you so much! Mendelssohn is one of my favorites, and this made me appreciate him even more!
You are welcome! We love him too. :)
Another technique that contributes to deemphasize the recapitulation in Mendelssohn's music is the suppression of the modulating bridge between the first and the second thematic group. Usually the bridge is retained in the recapitulation, of course it no more modulates but is modified so that the second group is now in the tonic. Mendelssohn's works often feature an extended bridge in the exposition, which is then completely eliminated in the recapitulation where the second group follows the first one immediately.
Mendelssohn was quite pragmatic: after the highly modulating development, there was no need for him to introduce new instability in the recapitulation and the two groups are now joined by their tonal unity.
That’s quite interesting, thank you!
That's how you do this. Way too underrated this man. Thank you for these videos, really.
My pleasure!
Thank you for this. This was a new discovery for me today.
I love you Mendelssohn!
Great job!!
This pointed out a few things to these old ears. I've always had a "yeah, whatever" attitude towards most of Mendelssohn's music. It all seems so easy, so deft. When you listen to Beethoven, you can hear old Ludwig working hard to get back to the recap, where Mendelssohn just seem so effortless. Almost like he's cheating. Listening to a familiar piece -- while seeing a score I've never studied -- is such an eye-opener, esp. with the light commentary running along the top. Thanks!
Best feedback ever. I warmly thank you!
I have here at home Charles Rosen's Sonata Form and in it he states that Mendelssohn's music is always at its lowest tension right before the main theme reappears. It's indeed the case and quite unique. I am happy someone else picked up on this.
If you want more Mendelssohn peculiarities, look at what he does with the clarinet, for example in the trio of the first symphony's scherzo, or the second theme of the finale, or the clarinet duet of the Hebrides Overture second theme in the recapitulation. There may be more places. No one else, not even Weber, gave the clarinet that much significance. His music is the ultimate gift to every orchestral clarinetist.
Thank you for providing further examples! We left quite a few interesting recapitulations out like in the Italian symphony. As you said, quite unique! A genius composer.
Great episode!
This is an excellent video.
As an honorable mention, I'd like to point out that Debussy's "Reflets dans l'Eau" from the first book of Images uses precisely this technique of eroding the recapitulation's boundary by prolonging the dominant (mm. 35 & 71). Only in Debussy's case, the dominant function is realized with a V11 (Ab Eb Gb Bb Db) instead of a traditional V7.
It's interesting to observe how these same formal techniques can be expressed in a myriad of styles.
We heard about it from the famous horsemen! 🐴🐴🐴🐴
The MSND overture is far more lovely and advanced than anything Mozart wrote at the same age (17).
Great video, as always. Please don't make the quotes blurry. It makes them less readable.
Noted! I will diminish the effect. MM
George Bernard Shaw once wrote that Mendelssohn’s music is always pretty, but seldom more. He was half right: Mendelssohn’s music is always pretty, but *often* more.
I’d argue the original statement is true for Mozart, but definitely not Mendelssohn.
@@carbonmonoxide5052 You definitely underestimate Mozart, then.
He was the Mozart of the early romantic period.
large portion!
Thank you for this!!
Mendelssohn's music was not "Western", it was European.
I admit I don't see the relevance of the quotes comparing Mozart and Mendelssohn as prodigies. The video is not about Mendelssohn's childhood works.
There are precursors to Mendelssohn's use of this technique. An especially beautiful example is the first movement of Haydn's 81st symphony. On a smaller scale, Mozart's Minuet K. 355 offers a chromatic reharmonization of the first two bars in the recapitulation.
Among the geniuses he is the one that most composed average music . Imagine Alkan with the hits of Mendelssohn then you get the idea…
Alkan was crap.
That’s wrong on so many levels but hey… to each their own