Mendelssohn’s Masterpieces | Popular Classical Music
Mendelssohn, a composer who represents German Romanticism.
He was active not only as a composer but also as a pianist and conductor, and from a young age he possessed such musical talent that he was called a child prodigy.
In this article, we introduce some of the masterpieces Mendelssohn left behind.
Whether you’re a fan of Mendelssohn or not very familiar with him, please take a look.
We hope you’ll notice the characteristics and charm of his style and discover some new favorite pieces.
If you play an instrument or sing, do try performing them yourself!
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Mendelssohn’s Masterpieces | Popular Classical Music (41–50)
String Quartet No. 4 in E minor, Op. 44 No. 2Felix Mendelssohn
After writing his String Quartet No.
1 in 1829, Mendelssohn stepped away from composing string quartets for a time.
During that period he produced masterpieces such as the Symphony No.
4 “Italian” and the overture “The Hebrides” (“Fingal’s Cave”), and he also took up the post of conductor for the Leipzig Gewandhaus concerts, pursuing a wide range of activities.
He returned to the string quartet in 1837, eight years after the First Quartet.
This led to a set of three quartets that could be called “Mendelssohn’s Razumovsky.” “Razumovsky” refers to Beethoven’s quartets.
This work is regarded not only as quintessentially Mendelssohnian but as one of the finest achievements in Europe at the time.
In the same key as his famous Violin Concerto in E minor, it is filled with beauty, poignancy, and lyricism—meditative, yet culminating in an energetic finale.
The performance time is about 27 minutes, noted in connection with the Chamber International Competition and Festival held in Osaka.
Mendelssohn’s Masterpieces | Popular Classical Music (51–60)
String Quartet No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 44 No. 3Felix Mendelssohn
Right after completing his String Quartet No.
4, Mendelssohn, riding a wave of momentum, began composing his String Quartet No.
5, which he finished the following year, 1838.
In this work, Mendelssohn pushes even further the path of honoring classical forms that he pursued in No.
4.
While it shows the influence of Beethoven’s “Rasumovsky” quartets, it retains Mendelssohn’s characteristic graceful melodies and vibrant rhythms, resulting in a piece that conveys brightness and vivacity.
Among Mendelssohn’s series of string quartets, it may appear the most modest at first glance, but it reveals deeper rewards the more one listens.
Mendelssohn was extremely satisfied with this work and is said to have remarked that it was “hundreds of times better” than the quartets he had written up to that point.
Approximately 35 minutes in the Viridian String Quartet’s performance.
Beloved Place, Op. 99 No. 3Felix Mendelssohn
Do you know where my favorite place is for an evening cool-down? By the mill with the brook, among the trees and fields.
The little flowers start to chatter.
But the rose pricks me with the kiss of its thorns and saddens me.
As I sit there utterly downcast, a small white spider approaches and says, “It is far better to have your heart ache from the rose’s kiss than to die without knowing love, without love.” This is a poem by the woman poet Friederike Robert.
She was Heinrich Heine’s lover.
It has been arranged for horn and piano without singing.
The melody is the same.
If you can find it on CD, I recommend the one sung by Peter Schreier with guitar accompaniment.
Lieblingsplätzchen Op.
99 No.
3—he sings it with deep feeling.
Tavern Song of Turkey, Op. 50-1Felix Mendelssohn
From Mendelssohn’s male-chorus set “Six Songs,” this is TÜrkisches Schenkenlied (Turkish Tavern Song).
(To the waiter) You boor, don’t rudely set the wine bottle right under my nose.
If you’re going to pour me wine, do it with gentle eyes; otherwise the fine 1811 Auslese will turn cloudy in the glass.
(To the cupbearer) Handsome boy, come in—why are you lingering by the entrance? From now on I’ll make you my cupbearer; then any wine will be clear and delicious.
Text by Goethe.
“Auslese” here refers to the 1811 vintage, a celebrated year for wine.
Composed by Mendelssohn in 1838.
Though a lesser-known piece by Mendelssohn, it’s a lively, delightful gem.
The first half addresses a waiter; the second half calls out to a young cupbearer.
Albumleaf, Op. 117Felix Mendelssohn
This is a touching piano miniature by Mendelssohn, a composer emblematic of German Romanticism.
Its fresh yet passionate melody has a charm that evokes a breezy feeling of first love in the listener’s heart.
Written in 1837 when he was 28, the piece combines the grace of a brook flowing through a forest with a sense of vitality that suggests the dawn of a new day.
While it does require a certain level of technique—such as handling the left hand’s sextuplets and achieving the exquisite balance between both hands in the middle section—the joy of playing it is all the greater for it.
A highly recommended piece for those who seek pure beauty.
Symphony No. 5 “Reformation” in D minor, Op. 107Felix Mendelssohn
This is music that Mendelssohn, a devout Lutheran (Martin Luther led the Reformation in opposition to the Catholic Church), refined through many revisions.
Although Mendelssohn was Jewish and therefore would have been expected to follow Judaism, in order to survive in Europe at the time one needed a Christian baptismal certificate.
After converting, he became a fervent believer.
It was the Jewish Mendelssohn who revived the St.
Matthew Passion and restored the quintessentially German Bach to prominence.
His Christian music is extraordinarily beautiful.
The first movement begins with the prayers of the Mass, the Dresden Amen, and the final movement opens with the chorale “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” by Luther, first intoned by the flute, and concludes with power and splendor.
In the fourth movement, he uses the serpent—a rare instrument with a sinuously curved, snake-like shape—which is now almost always substituted by the tuba.
Claudio Abbado and the London Symphony Orchestra.
Songs Without Words, Book 4, Op. 53, No. 2 “Floating Clouds”Felix Mendelssohn
Songs Without Words consists of eight sets, each containing six pieces.
Most of the titles were assigned by publishers; only a few were named by the composer himself.
“Floating Clouds” was published in 1841.
The majority of Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words are in ternary form, with the melody sung by the right hand over an accompaniment played by the left.
Because these pieces often include introductions, interludes, and codas, they were likely inspired by art songs.
“Floating Clouds” is one of the pieces in the fourth set of Songs Without Words, published in 1841.
The pianist is András Schiff, born in 1953 in Budapest, Hungary.
He specializes in Classical, Romantic, and Bartók repertoires, has performed worldwide, contributed to Bach scholarship, and has received numerous awards including the Bach Prize.
In one interview he said, “I couldn’t play Beethoven’s ‘Appassionata’ until after I turned forty.
A ten-year-old child might be able to play it, but that would be like a ten-year-old playing King Lear.” He is also an honorary member of the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn.